Wheel of Yamanote
by Lady Librarian
Summary: They say the worlds are like a great wheel that turns and turns, until at the close, you find yourself at the beginning once more. Take care, lest you be crushed. Book three of the Kamikakushi Saga.
1. Chapter 1

**LIN**

Thick like rice flour, dust caked her sweat soaked cheek.

It blew up into a cloud at her lips, choking her throat.

Thicker still was the stink of old death.

It smeared the rotting sliding doors with hideous stains of black, hanging over the rotted husk of the room like a shadow, clotting the beams of light piercing the buckled ceiling with curling of motes of grime. As she lay there panting and exhausted Lin gagged on the smell of fresh blood.

Worse was the fact that it wasn't hers.

There was no mistaking the ugly reek of human blood. Lin couldn't to look where Kiri sprawled on a frayed and filthy futon somewhere in the gloom. The human hadn't moved or made a sound since the spider had dumped her there. All the same, Lin couldn't spare a glance. She couldn't close her eyes even though they burned with exhaustion. She didn't dare take her gaze off the spider. Across the mildew pocked tatami the spider stoop in the gloom to wash the birth blood from the kits. Though she wore a woman's form a blade of light cut across the spider's milk white face, making one of her eyes glitter in the dark like ruby jewels. The spiders gaze fixed with such intensity on the tiny lives cradled in her many hands.

The look made Lin wanted to scream.

It made her want to claw at the decomposed floor.

It made her want to pry up the boards and hurl them at the spider.

Because it was a loveless predatorial gaze.

Slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, the spider dipped her hands in and out of the basin. Eerily more and more appeared, flashing like shards of mirror in the dark as red water dripped between the blades of her fingers. Cold terror eclipsed Lin's rage as she tried desperately to see her kits through the thicket of arms.

She hadn't even had the chance to see them before they were taken.

She hadn't even held them.

Suddenly one of the kits loosed a gurgling sigh. Lin bent to the floor beneath a crushing weight of misery as the spider answered with a hushing coo. She sank her fingers into the tatami, clawing at the rotting fibers as she struggled to pull herself closer. Ignoring her efforts as if they didn't matter in the slightest, Shurui turned her back. The spider busied with wrapping the wiggling younglings in lengths of silken cloth produced from nowhere. As the world turned gray and sick with pain, Lin collapsed on the filthy mats dwindling on the verge of passing out, reaching with her only arm.

 _"Give me my kits!"_

Shurui fell still as she perched on the edge of the rotting mats looking away into the gloom as if seeing through the sagging walls to something far away through the hole in the roof out into the beyond. Lin blinked in surprise as the spider finally spoke. Her gentle words were not entirely without pity.

"You only have one hand, weasel woman. You cannot hold them both."

The spider was suddenly standing over her holding out one of the bundles. Lin didn't resist as the thicket of hands gently helped her sit up, carefully eased the tiny newborn into the crook of her only arm. She stared at her daughter for the first time; holding her breath until her heart was thunder in her ears.

It was as if all the dark suddenly evaporated from the world.

In that moment the blood on the snow of her past vanished.

Kokoro's face was so small; so very small. She was bright white like porcelain. Tiny and perfect; just like the tiny hands that tucked beneath her chin. Knowing what was near, the kit wormed against her chest and Lin fumbled with the front of her kimono. Instinct took over and somehow she managed to hold the baby and yank the fabric aside so the little one could nurse. Greedily the little one set to work. As she did Lin stared down at the thick hair thatching the kit's crown.

It was black as ink.

Silently Lin prayed her eyes would be gold as well.

Just like Suzume's.

A strange pain stabbed through her heart at the thought of him, bleeding through and making it hard to breathe as the warmth of the tiny body soaked thru her skin. The details of her girl's face dissolved into the threat of tears. Because after everything that'd happened; after everything they'd survived, would she continue to be so lucky now? Would he? Just as the tears brimmed Lin became all too keenly aware of the hilt of the dagger pressing into her ribs where it lay hidden in the folds of her apron.

Lin's hand twitched against Kokoro's swaddling silk as anticipation buzzed like electricity in the tips of her fingers. She didn't look, didn't glance at the spider. Just in case her eyes betrayed her. Her tears were gone; dried up and replaced by bloody thoughts. Now they brimmed with murder. Because the spider was close; close enough for her to bury Ume's blade in one the bitch's bloody red eyes. Lin would gladly leave it there.

But cold terrible apprehension poured over her in that moment.

It forced her to remember she had only one hand.

With that hand Lin held her daughter.

"My offer still stands, weasel woman," Shurui murmured, "Feed the boy then take your daughter can go."

Lin flinched at the sound of the spider's voice. Suddenly the darkness returned, flooding around her and soaking her through with the muddy weight of despair. Somehow she'd forgotten Shurui was there. All the same, the spider's words fell like stone against her back, leaving bruises on her soul; because she found herself considered them carefully. Lin bent with shame, holding Kokoro closer as she shook with it.

How she hated the spider.

Almost as much as she hated herself.

Because for a brief flash of a moment she considering accepting the offer.

Lin couldn't bring herself to speak.

Instead she spat on the spider's feet.

"I won't leave my son!"

Hastily Shurui withdrew, leaving Lin in a dizzy lurch. She shrank as fear thrilled in her throat as the spider was suddenly looming over her again, turning the blood thundering inside her veins to ice. All the same, Lin glared at the spider's feet in grim satisfaction, considering spitting again as Shurui wiped at the top of her soiled foot with grimy toes. The spider sniffed, looking away as she responded with frosty indifference.

"No. I didn't think you would."

Then Makoto loosed a hungry squall.

The sound struck Lin like a slap to the face, forcing her to look up at the spider only to realize that Shurui wasn't looking at them. The spider stared with the same predatorial acuity, but not at the kits. This time she stared with endless calculating hunger at Ikiri. Startled, Lin threw her attention to the human's motionless body half afraid she was dead. The mortal lay on her back with her face turned away, the short fringe of her black hair tangled with debris. But the human lived. Lin could see the slow slight rise and fall of the female's chest.

What could the spider possible want with Ikiri!?

At that moment Kokoro gave up Lin's breast with a sweet sigh. Cuddling into her the girl lapsed into heavy sleep. Instinctively Lin recoiled trying to hide her daughter as the spider craned to see the kit.

"The girl has eaten enough," the spider instructed, "Feed the boy."

Lin clambered back from the host white hands unfolding before her, reaching for Kokoro. Staring aghast up at the monster's beautiful terrible face terrible thoughts churned through Lin's head. Even as she choked on dread, she forced herself to speak.

"W-why do you want my kits?!"

Shurui paused, studying her as if she had all the time in the world. There it was again! Lin watched as the inscrutable conviction that galvanized the spider's every action transform the spider's face into something uncanny. It was like the spider knew she was untouchable, like she'd somehow looked into the future and knew everything that was about to come! As Lin stared premonition lumbered up behind her; growing larger and larger until hung like over her head like the stupid massive wheel, threatening to crush her at any moment. In that moment something clawed and rattled the barred sliding door.

"Shurui! _Shurui!"_

Although the bat's screech was muffled her excitement was palpable.

 _"We have him! She found him!"_

Lin rolled aside, scrambling to protect Kokoro as Shurui clambered over her, nearly trampling them in a stampede of hands and feet. Lin stared stupidly as Shurui produced a mirror and a jar of rouge from her obi, hurriedly straightened her kimono, face, and hair. All the while she held Makoto aloft in a single hand as if annoyed to be burdened by him. Lin could only stare in mounting disgust as Shurui transformed from a monster to woman pink-cheeked with excitement as if expecting to meet with a suitor. The juxtaposition of her preening with the rotting den of death around them was utterly absurd. Beaming at the results she saw in the glass the spider stowed her sundries and ripped the door from its tracks in her haste to have it open.

The slider cartwheeled across the room.

Loudly it smashed to pieces against the adjacent wall.

Shurui froze in surprise on the threshold.

In the hallway stood no one more than the bat and the cold-eyed stranger.

With a gasp the fat filthy kami recoiled, tripping over the God-woman's foot and sprawling backwards only to half dangle from the lead on the leash attached to the metal collar clasped around the female's neck. Lin's insides cringed from the sight of the thing. It was magic of the worst kind. The stranger's face twisted with pain as the bat yanked her off balance, nearly sending her to the ground as well. She nearly dropped the old wooden box clasped in her hands. But she didn't cuss or kick the bat as finally the tattered kami let go of the leash to sprawl on the ground. As if she was a statue the God-Woman stood there silently oozing hate as she glared askance at Shurui. Lin found herself staring at the bloody tear in the front of the God-Woman's green kimono. A patch of pale skin was visible within where the spider had run her through with silk.

The spider had killed the stranger only to bring her back.

It was utter nonsense.

Nothing the bat had rambled on about made any sense to Lin; nothing, except the name Heian-kyo. Lin had heard tales of the Imperial City. Kami who passed through Izu tittered about it like idiotic plovers. She'd dismissed the fantastic tales as idle gossip. What had the bat mean? How had she seen the stranger in Heian-kyo? She was blinder than blind.

It was then Lin realized the stranger was staring back at her.

Her shrewd colorless eyes darted to Kokoro, then to Makoto, then back to her. Silently the God-Woman stared, brow furrowing deeper and deeper with the frustration that began to burn brighter and brighter under her silver gaze blazed like fire. Lin knew instinctively the stranger wanted to help her. Somehow the God-woman knew her. But for the moment there was nothing either one of them could do. The collar rendered the stranger a mute slave to whoever held her leash. All they could do; look across the distance at each other; at least for the moment.

Lin dropped her eyes to stare at the dangling lead.

As Kokoro shifted against her side determination hardened Lin's melting heart. She used it to crush the hopeless misery that set her insides trembling. It stilled the devastating remorse chilling her bones. She could not promise Ikiri that she could save her. Nor could she offer the same to the strange God-woman. She could not even promise Suzume she would survive this. All the same, as the hilt of the knife pressed against her heart.

She would not let the spider have her kits.

Not so long as she breathed.

That much she could promise herself.

Lin was yanked from her brooding as the spider shoved the female aside, anxiously stooping in the doorway to eagerly search both directions the hall. As she did Shurui's bright anticipation face broke into a storm of fury as she found something missing. Then in a blink she was a demon once more. The spider towered in the space, eyes like red embers and body encased in beetle black armor finished with obsidian talons. Silk splattered the floor and wall as Shurui spat wrathfully, dragging her into the room and pinning her to the ground.

Makoto trilled and squealed in delight as Shurui swung him up and down, back and forth with every wild gesture she made, making the bat to writhe and shriek as her tattered telescopic ears trembled. Forced to watch her son's erratic flight path, panic yanked Lin upright with a stifled cry. Strange that after all this time she should try to reach with her missing arm. If only it was still there. What a different a single hand could make. But there was no room for wishing in this world. Exhaustion buckled her legs, knees stinging as they knocked. She clutched Kokoro as the kit slept soundly, oblivious to her brother's peril.

"You said you found him!?" Shurui demanded furiously, "Where is he!?"

"He's there!" The bat screeched painfully, _"Show her, Kubi! Show her!"_

Lin blinked.

Kubi? Apparently that was the stranger's name.

But Kubi didn't answer the bat's command. No one was holding her leash. She just stood in the hallway holding the box, watching in grim satisfaction as the spider shook Bah-Fuh so vigorously it dislodged her wig, exposing the ugly liver spots on her bald wispy pate.

"You told me we could take _human_ form!"The spider thundered miserably, hoister the bat high by her spindly arms as if read to rip her limb from limb, _"You told me you saw us in the sun!"_

Lin stood stock still, stunned by the spider's admission.

Shurui wanted to be human!?

Why on earth would she want to be human!?

Again Bah-Fuh was unmoved by Shurui's fearsome outburst.

"That was before your idiot daughters _killed_ the human's babies!"

Lin cringed from the sound and the truth. Somehow she found herself standing. With what little strength had returned to her she shrank back against the wall, hanging on every word as more and more of the truth slipped from the kami against their will. Her legs were shaking with the urge to run even though they could barely hold her up. Anxiously she vacillated from foot to foot as the instinct vibrated in her very bones because if ever there was a moment to escape it was now. All the same, in flinty silence Lin rooted herself in place and waited, listening keenly as the kami revealed themselves.

"You know as well as I do that things have changed, but not everything!" Bah-Fuh explained as is speaking to an idiot, "The human is still the _perfect_ host! She will carry Garuda until we prepare the boy!"

Again Lin jolted as if the words had slapped her.

Prepare the boy!?

Isn't that what the bat said before? They only needed the boy?

Lin's insides went cold as ice as she realized they were talking about Makoto.

"It's not perfect but it will do!" Bah-Fuh scolded as if Shurui was being ungrateful, "You'll never have the sun but at least you'll have _him_ , now _put me down_ you lovesick little fool!"

Shurui all but dropped the bat. Landing with a yelp, the bat indignantly straightened her robes and began feeling about on the spongy tatami. Swallowing a shuddering sob, sticky black tears rolled down Shurui's beetle black checks. She wiped them with her hands, slowly returning to a human guise as helplessly she shook her fists at the oblivious creature.

In that moment it was Lin's turn to watch with predatorial acuity.

Even thought she didn't understand what or why, it didn't matter.

Kubi has revealed a weakness.

A weakness Lin could eventually exploit once it unraveled.

"You told me you found him!" Shurui hissed between her teeth as if exhausted.

"He's in the box Kubi's holding," Bah-Fuh absently nodded toward the door before returning to her blind groping, "Confound it! Where's my wig?"

Instead of a wig Shurui shoved Makoto at the bat. Obviously surprised, Bah-Fuh held him awkwardly in her spindly wings, making a moue of disgust as the kit squalled and laughed. Lin and the bat both flinched as silk whizzed and exploded. As she glanced back Shurui was rudely hauling Kubi across the floor hand over hand only to pin her to the ground at her feet. For a second Lin was afraid the spider had skewered her once more but the God-Woman was only plastered in a web of crystalline white. But as Shurui tried to wrench free the ancient box in her hands Kubi held fast.

"Give it to me!" Shurui commanded furiously, hauling on the box with one hand before grabbing Kubi by the neck with the other, _"I said give it to me!"_

At once Kubi relinquished. Viciously Shurui kicked her before planting her bare foot on the female's back and grinding her into the ground. As if cruelty was second nature, in the same moment the spider turned reverent red eyes over the wooden box. She lifted it to her lips to blow the dust from its top in a billowing cloud.

"It's so small!" She hushed incredulously, "How could he fit?"

Carefully, ever so carefully, she removed the lid with trembling hands.

As it fell it struck Kubi in the back before clattering to the floor.

The spider stared at the contents stupidly for a long silent moment.

Emptying the contents into her hands she hurled the box aside.

Gold flashed in the dark, unfurling like water as it poured from the spiders hands.

But it was fabric, not water; the most beautiful fabric Lin has ever seen.

It unfolded larger and larger until it revealed itself to be a kimono.

The warmth of its refracting color sent a glow through every corner of the room.

As Kubi held up the numinous garment her face contorted with enraged confusion.

Shurui bunched it up in her shaking hands as if ready to rip it to shreds.

Instead she hurled it blindly before snatching Kubi up off the ground.

 _"Is this some kind of tick!?"_ The spider howled in her face.

"What is it!?" Bah-Fuh called clamorously, "What's wrong, Shurui?"

The bat brusquely deposited Makoto on the ground, clambering to the edge of the tatami only to recoil from the spider's shrieks clasping her hands over her ears. Already Lin was there. Stunned by her luck she crouched on the filthy mat, forced to balance Kokoro in the crook of her up-tucked knee so she could pick up Makoto. A punch of panic surged into her throat as he squalled and struggled against her, already rooting around in search of her breast. She felt no relief as he silenced to nurse, because the spider's words haunted her. She only had one hand: she could not hold them both.

True; she could not hold them both.

But she could still carry them.

Lin cast about for something to make a sling. She couldn't use her obi; it wasn't wide enough. Better still it was the only thing hiding the blade. Before she could tear off her empty sleeve of her Lin froze as movement flashed in her peripheral vision.

She flinched as Ikiri was sat up.

Death hung over the human like a black cloud.

It weighed the room around her with a shadow of sickness.

Pale and blank faced, the human took in the room without flinching.

Horrified, Lin realized she had been awake for some time.

For all she knew, Ikiri had heard everything.

 _"Where is he!? Where is my Garuda!?"_

Lin's attention was torn aside as Kubi choked and gasped. She was forced to watch in horror as Shurui's hands tightened around the other female's neck. Whatever answers the God-woman supplied were strangled. Hearing the sounds understanding dawned on the bat. Hastily picking up bits of detritus the bat hurled them in the spider's general direction. Kiri, however, didn't even flinch as the bat continued to scream.

"Shurui, _you idiot!_ She can't answer you if you're choking her!

Pulled in so many directions Lin felt ready to fly to pieces, again her attention was wrenched aside as Kokoro squealed, kicking and struggling in her spider silk swaddling. The human's miss-matched eyes dropped to the kit. Lin's insides went cold as Kiri continued to stare. The human's face tightened with sorrow as her hands balled into fits.

Lin stared at Kiri's hands.

They were caked with blood.

Soon were the filthy pleats of Kiri's hakama.

There was no time for grief.

There was no time for guilt.

Staggering over Lin forced her son into the human's hands.

Adrenaline fortified her rubbery legs as she darted back to retrieve her daughter only to force her into the crook of Kiri's other arm. Wordlessly the human accepted them, holding them both. They looked so much larger in Kiri's hands. For a moment Lin worried they might be too heavy for the human to hold. Terror thundered in her blood, singing like the ringing of bells in her ears as it turned the world bright and sharp, because there wasn't time for such worries. Hauling the female upright, Lin locked her only arm around the human's waist until Kiri flinched. But Lin didn't loosen her grip. Relentlessly she forced the human along with their backs pressed to the perimeter of the room, going as fast as caution permitted.

Lin's world narrowed to set of sliding doors at the back of the room.

She had no idea where they went.

She didn't care.

They meant escape.

Outside was a ruined city full of buildings in which they could hide.

They wouldn't have to hide long.

Jut long enough for Lin to kill the spider.

"Put Kubi down, Shurui!" The bat continued to throw things, "We need her alive! Garuda needs her alive, _remember!?"_

Lin froze in place, flattening against the wall as the spider turned to glare at the Bah-Fuh. She didn't see them; she was too busy swatting aside the barrage of trash the blind kami continued to throw. But something the bat said must have registered, because grinding her teeth audibly, the spider reluctantly returned Kubi to her feet.

The God-woman hauled in a wild ragged breath as she sagged on her knees still held in the spider's grip. Despair distorted the shrewd female's face. Her lips were bloody. So were her teeth. Kubi visibly fought the command only to speak all the same. And it was as if every word was torn from her very skin.

"I burned his body but I stole his breath… I breathed him in… He was inside me and _I couldn't stand it!_ So I spun him into thread… I wove him into fabric… I trapped him there so he couldn't haunt me anymore!"

Before Kubi could finish, before Lin could move another step, Shurui dropped the God-woman. Pale with understanding the spider clambered right in front of the sliding doors at the back of the room where she'd thrown the gold garment. Lin's insides turned to ice as the spider unknowingly blocked their escape route while wildly searching the trash piled there.

Lost in a dizzying stab of shock, Lin fumbled to a stop.

Her eyes flew to the other doorway.

It was wide open but it was three times as far.

Unfortunately, this route also required they pass the bat.

"Now do you understand!?" Bah-Fuh scolded shrilly, "Only Kubi knows the spell! We'll need her to explain the how of it once we get to Heian-kyo!"

Lin gritted her teeth against a gasp as Bah-Fuh clambered half-way after Shurui, weaving on her feet just a few paces away. The bat turned her head back and forth, listening in confusion as the spider tore apart the room.

"What are you doing now!?" The bat snapped impatiently.

Gods, she was a hideous thing! Spastically the bat licked and licked again the wet folds of her ridged nose. White eyes staring blankly as her enormous ears quivered and swiveled. Her pasty translucent skin revealed a web of red and blue veins. The wobbly, rubbery folds of her tattered atrophied wings were shot thru with them. The stink of the bat was sickening! The kami reeked of urine. Her once sumptuous robes were almost brown with dried blood, soaked at the hem with other kinds of filth.

Lin held her breath as she urged Kiri onward. All the while her heart was hammering away in her chest as cold sweat broke out all over her body. Turning herself over to the dark distant place of trees and snow, Lin let instinct move her every step. Using the broken caved ceiling a shield, Lin wound her way through the maze of debris. Sound was the best cover and she made good progress while the bat and the spider screeched at each other.

"I threw him over here and now I can't find him! This place is an utter mess."

Shurui uttered an exasperated sob as the bat twitched incredulously.

"You _threw_ him!? Are you that stupid!? You search for him for years and years and the moment you find him you throw him away!?"

" _I didn't know!"_ The spider shrilled back, "Now shut up so I can look!"

Lin didn't hear their words. Finally they were off the tatami. Her bare feet thrilled at the touch of dirt. The door was right in front of them. Haste crawled over every inch of her skin as she turned her back to the spider and bat. But right in front of them still sprawled on the floor where the spider had dropped her lay the God-woman.

Lin came up short under the eight of Kubi's burning silver-eyes. Panic slapped her in the face with the fact that neither she nor Kiri had a hand to spare to save the stranger. This, however, was already more than clear to Kubi. Her shrewd eyes darted from the human, to the kits, then back to her. But they neither begged nor cursed. If anything they compelled her to go. For some strange reason in that moment Kubi made Lin think of Haku. He'd given her the same look, silently willing her to go.

The eerie premonition gave her pause.

It propelled her past the doomed God-Woman a second too late.

"I found him!" The spider cried triumphantly, making the bat cringe.

In that moment Makoto squalled in surprise.

The sound must have startled Kiri, because she loosed a tiny gasp.

Shurui wheeled, looking right at them even as she held up the length of gold.

Instinctively Lin shoved Kiri aside.

Seconds later something struck her square in the chest.

Her feet left the ground as up and down became confused. Dazed, she hung in the nothingness for a bright numb moment. When she came to she couldn't move. Nothing would move even as she struggled. Already her heart was in her throat, filling her ears with thunder. Swelling to a crescendo inside as her chest filled with a frozen flood of panic. Then the kits squealed and laughed. The sound drew her taut and thin like a coiled spring about to break.

Because this time she was trapped; there was nothing she could do.

Staring madly from the corner of her eyes she saw through a film of silk. Lin tried to scream, tried to shout at Kiri to run. Her mouth was glued shut and air hissed through her nose. She could barely get enough air into her lungs. Lin watched in miserable fury as Shurui took the kits from Kiri. The stupid human didn't even put up a fight! As if driven by a mind of their own her many hands gathered the kits up. Cradling and rocking them to silence.

"The kimono, Shurui!" The bat instructed eagerly, "Put it on her!"

The filthy kami clambered at the edge of the tatami.

Swiveling her head from side to side as the bat listened raptly to every sound.

Understanding dawned on Shurui as she frowned at the garment.

The spider eyes glittered in triumph as she looked down at the Kiri.

"Hold out your arms, human."

Kiri loosed a sob shaking in terror as the spider towered over her.

There was no ghost to save her now.

No magic to answer her call.

Kiri was just a human.

She had nothing to stave off the liquid fabric that enveloped her. Bowing her head, the human held out her arms obediently. The spider draped the kimono over Kiri's quaking shoulder. Carefully she threaded the female's arms through the trailing sleeves. As it pooled around the human's feet the kimono caught a blade of light. Like a sparkler it erupted into dazzling sparkles.

But the light didn't fade this time.

It bloomed and billowed into yellow-white fire.

Growing brighter and brighter until it swallowed Kiri whole.

Even Shurui shrank from it, dwindling in size beneath its intensity as she turned her back, shielding the kits and Bah-Fuh unconsciously. The closest bits of trash charred and the moldy damp tatami emitted steam. Lin could feel the burn from across the room.

Finally the fire split, breathing its torrid breath through the room.

Lin cringed as they divided into an enormous pair of ember wings.

These immolated in a rush of hot air, scattering eroding cinder feathers.

A God not of this land stood out of the ash and dwindling flame.

The smell of incense and sweet flowers drifted in his wake.

Struck stupid with awe Lin could only stare. She had seen fantastic things in her life. But never had she seen such as God as this! Naked from the waist up his smooth bare skin glowed the same color of the billowing fabric wound round his slender waist. Or perhaps he wasn't flesh at all and was made of metal instead? The God showed like bronzed gold, cut in hard lines of muscle and sinew. Strange characters etched into his skin in looping bracketed curls, running in sinuous lines as they traversed his body in storied she could not read. Bands of silver glittering with emeralds trapped the muscles at his biceps, wrists, and calves; crowning his head and holding the thick ebony waves of his topknot in place.

The spider shoved the kits at Bah-Fuh's.

She nearly knocked the bat over to be rid of them.

Then she threw herself into the cinders to bow at the God's feet.

 _"Garuda!"_

His inner light dimmed as he recoiled, turning away so that Lin caught sight of his face. She could've mistaken him for a woman he was so beautiful. His eyes belonged to a bird of prey; slitted and yellow like the mirrored gold loops threaded through his earlobes. Gold traced the edges of his almond shaped eyes and the bow of his generous lips. It painted his entire brow, running down the hawk-like cut of his chiseled nose. But the exquisitely perfect balance of both feminine and masculine beauty became lost in his expression of turmoil. His bangles rang like bells as he lifted his hands. As if afraid he stared at his delicate fingers. The nails curved into razor sharp claws. With these he absently worried the long strands of prayer beads looped around his neck.

"Garuda?" He sang softly as if afraid of his own voice.

Holding out her filthy hands, Shurui reached for him.

More and more hands appeared, reaching for him in the fading dark.

He shrank, this time with a startled hiss.

Shurui flinched, blinking as if he had slapped her.

"Don't you recognize me?"

He started at her askance, his yellow eyes glittering cagily.

"No."

He hissed in lyric dismay, staring around the room in utter confusion.

"I… I cannot remember..."

Kneeling in the dirt aghast, Shurui appealed to the bat in a helpless whisper.

"Why doesn't he remember!?"

Struggling to hold the kits the filthy creature shook her head at a loss.

"I didn't _see_ this, Shurui! I don't know!"

Shurui gasped aloud, clambering back fearfully as like a startled bird Garuda leapt into the air with a chirp of surprise, kicking up another sweltering wind as something moved at his feet.

It took Lin a moment to see Kubi.

She had completely forgotten the female.

The God woman lay face down in the dirt shaking like a leaf trampled in a mire of mud. Lightly Garuda drifted down, circling with sharp interest, perching on his toes as he crouched beside her. Gently he turned her over only to freeze. His golden face wiped with shock as his yellow eyes went perfectly wide. With a shaking hand, the God hesitantly brushed the hair from Kubi's face. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he began to shake. Gently, so very gently Garuda took Kubi's face in his hands. All the while the female refused to look at him, clenching her eyes shut.

"I… I know you," the God breathed in a sigh.

And he was pleading now in a tender song of silver bells.

"Tell me? Please you tell me why I know you?"

Shurui moved so swiftly Lin didn't see.

The spider caught Garuda by the nape of his neck.

He shrieked like an eagle as she dragged him back, ripping something from him.

Gold furled and folded into the plunging dark.

Kiri slumped onto Kubi's chest as cold swallowed the world in Garuda's absence. Shaking with barely restrained emotion Shurui balled and shoved the wad of fabric down the front of her obi. Standing over Kubi with an expression of pure murder her red eyes burned like coals in the gloom. Then she turned and stalked across the room. Pacing in circles lost deep in though, her monstrous shadow crawled over the walls in her passing. Choking on a sob Shurui tripped on something only to lapse into stillness.

Then she screamed.

Sucking in a long ragged breath she bent, collapsing to her knees.

Pounding her fists on the floor, Shurui wailed miserably. Clutching her head, she tore at her carefully coiffed hair. Even as the sound startled the kits, forcing them to add their plaintiff voices to the spider's keening, Lin watched the Shurui suffer with silent satisfaction. Gone was that righteous expression of conviction Lin hated so much! Instead Shurui crumpled to the floor and cried in heartbroken frustration like any other pitiful creature in this cursed world.

It made Lin realize that Shurui wasn't special.

Shurui wasn't immune or omnipotent.

She was flawed and vulnerable like the rest of them.

All the more reason for her to be patient.

"Shurui?"

Bah-Fuh called hoarsely over the squalling kits as Shurui finally quieted.

The bat was visibly rattled by the turn of events.

Lin gritted her teeth in grim delight.

Perhaps there was hope after all.

"What're you going to do, Shurui?"

Taking a deep shuddering breath the Spider hissed resolutely.

"I'm going to finish what Garuda started."

With that she sprang from the ground and stormed from the room.

Motivated by the horrible sound of the kits' crying, the moment the spider was gone Lin struggled to pull herself free. No use. Whatever silk remained held her fast. These last efforts spent cost her everything she had left. Exhaustion came for Lin even as the walls and ceiling began to quake, showering them with dust and bits up wood and plaster. Even kits cries couldn't summon her from the slow pooling dark. At first frightened, the bat suddenly sat up as she recognized something in the distant roar. Then she began to laugh; cackling with frenzied glee. But Lin could barely hear the bat now. She could barely hear anything at all over the grinding roar.

The side of the building gave as the ground jolted violently.

It peeling away as the opposite side of the room caved.

Air invaded, damp and cold as the building collapsed, folded flat around them. Light poured in its wake, permeating the massive constellation of blue crystals glassing over the cavern ceiling above. Water plunged from their midst, cascading in a huge frothy cataract down the massive curve of a wheel that leaned precariously over the ruins in which they'd taken refuge. It looked like it had crashed into the red gables of the six-story pagoda that tilted over them as it bore the behemoth wheel's weight. It was too big to see in one glance. The dizzying effect was more than unnerving. As she stared awe sank a stone of fear slowly into the pit of her stomach because it seemed as if at any moment that thing could come crashing down on them.

But it didn't.

It was slowly righting itself.

Causing the whole cavern to shake as it began to roll.

 _"Rise, O Wheel of Yamanote!"_

The bat screeched in maniac triumph.

 _"Doom! Doom upon you, Shitamachi!"_


	2. Chapter 2

**HAKU**

"Shut t'fuck up an' listen!" Jae snarled.

Holding onto the tail of metal swiveling at the radio's back the human threw up his arms waving comically until a voice began to surface out of the unseemly hissing. Haku fought to hear through the static.

… _Earthquake has struck Tokyo … Epicenter… Taito Ward… Train service is suspended… Thousands are without power…_

At once Kenka went perfectly white. He ripped the antiquated phone from its cradle, dialing from memory. Gritting his teeth he knotted the cord in his hand, chewing his lip. He straightened abruptly lowering the receiver to stare at it blankly. Terror tightened his face, soaking him through until he shook with its weight. With rare gentleness Megumi returned the receiver to its cradle.

"Phones will be down," She explained calmly.

"Earthquakes happen all the time," Jae continued half for himself.

"It wasn't an earthquake," Kuromi pronounced grimly.

"What t'fuck do you know!"

Jae rounded on her savagely only to jolt as he realized what she was. The male knocked back into Megumi as the singed spider stood in the entryway. Kuromi's red eyes burned like fires in the gloom as she stared at the radio. The disembodied voice continued to crackle into the ensuing silence.

 _In an unprecedented geological event an entire section of Asakusa sank 15 meters causing massive flooding from the Sumida River. Geologists say the collapse of a cavern deep beneath the streets may be responsible. Before the quake hit this morning a similar destabilization took place…_

Here the signal began to break up.

 _Ueno Park late last night..._

Only terribly familiar fragments survived.

 _Uguisudani Station…_

Finally the voice died, drowning in the static. Here the spider repeated herself but this time explaining.

"It wasn't an earthquake. It was the Wheel of Yamanote."

They all jumped as Michio's voice echoed in the stunning silence. It boomed directly behind Haku like a crack of thunder.

" _Goddamnit!_ What t' _hell_ are you people doin' up so early?!"

As Chihiro's best friend shuffled down the hall Haku flew to hide behind the podium. The swift wind of his passing startled the humans. Shaking with fright he peered around the edge. Pushing up a cloth mask embroidered with hideous pupils the human rubbed her sleepily eyes. Wearing an outlandish set of night clothes patterned with a strange green creature with bulbous pink eyes, Michio made herself even more at odds with the indigo yukata worn by the other humans. The bruises on her face and neck had healed to smudges of yellow made all the brighter thanks to her messy chemical green hair.

Strange that he should be so afraid of her. But he was more than afraid. Haku was terrified of Michio. Unfortunately there would be no hiding from her. Perhaps that was why she unnerved him so. As if drawn by magic her gray eyes found him immediately. She froze; momentarily stunned. Haku's fluttering heart surged into his throat as her finger shot up. It stabbed at him like one of the knives she had brandished on him in Aoyama.

" _You!"_ She thundered.

Chouchin guttered at the human's screech, darting up into the rafters as Michio pushed up her sleeves in an obvious threat of violence. Before she could advance; before Haku could flee out the front door to the relative safety of the roof, Onsen saved him. The blessed house slammed sliding doors right in the female's face. They rattled as Michio bounced off them, remaining closed even as Michio pried and pounded, making them buck and jolt in their tracks.

"Hey! _Hey!?"_ Michio barked furiously.

Haku blinked, somewhat awed as Michio continued to shout. She had no fear of this place as the other humans did. That she had managed to adapt so quickly gave him pause. But here Haku frowned angrily as she kicked the door, damaging the paper. He did not care to see her abuse Onsen.

"Open up you moldy old _ugly_ house!"

Onsen shuddered indignantly. The humans cringed with anxious glances at the creaking rafters. Kenka shrank from the door in apprehension. Floor boards snapped on the other side as the human female squealed. Her retreating shrieks were punctuated by the resounding slap of wood. As silence fell Megumi snorted as if all this was common place.

"She deserved that."

With a calm Haku had not expected the female turned for the kitchen.

"I doubt anyone's still sleeping. We might as well start on breakfast."

Bozu followed with a nervous glance toward the entryway. The spider was gone; to where he had no idea. Again Haku spun, feeling like a flag in a storm as he stared after Jae. Snatching up the radio he hastily followed in the female as if loath to be left. Jae argued with the goblin as they headed for the kitchen.

"Foul mouthed human will make pancakes, yes?"

"Man, I'm _sick_ of pancakes!"

"Shhh! Bozu likes pancakes."

"What about omelets, huh?"

" _Shhh!_ Human is too loud! Bozu wants pancakes!"

"Don't _fuckin'_ tell me t'shush you little…"

Haku stared in a daze as they disappeared between the split in the curtains, their bickering voices smudging into murmurs. He continued to stare, thoroughly disquieted by the feeling of being a stranger in his own house.

"Y-you okay, dude? You're, uh, getting... _windy_ …"

Haku glanced back at Kenka only to find him at his elbow. The male's pinched face was all eyes in the gray dawn. It was then that Haku realized a wind was rolling off of him. It tousled the bleached fringe of the male's hair. In that moment Chihiro pounded down the stairs behind them. Warm wild relief welled in Haku's heart at the sight of her. She was fresh from bed. Her silver hair was a mess and yukata disarranged so that her pale legs flashed beneath the indigo hem. Her bare feet skidded on the boards as she came up short on the mid landing. Obviously surprised to see Kenka, she blinked back and forth between them.

"M-morning," she stammered at a loss.

Haku cringed as something smashed distantly. Onsen shuddered again as Michio's angry shout echoed from afar.

" _I'm not afraid of you, ugly, Ugly, UGLY house!"_

Chihiro's face wiped with shock as she wheeled toward the sound. Haku flattened Kenka against the wall as Chihiro jumped the last three steps. The floor jolted as she landed hard, careening around the corner into the entryway. The sliders to the guest wing ripped open as she sprinted down the hall. Chouchin floated down from the rafters bobbing curiously as she followed in Chihiro's wake. Unsure of what to do Haku began to follow as well until Kenka caught his arm.

"Let her get this one."

Haku resisted if only for a moment. Then he let Kenka pull him down the hall into the kitchen. Haku came up short on the top step of the landing. Finally time seemed to slow down. So much had happened so quickly. Standing there clinging to the banister he indulged himself in simply standing still. The kitchen was much warmer than the rest of the house. Crackling irritably the pale flame of Onsen's presence flickered in the old hearth. Megumi jumped with many a nervous glance each time the fire gave a particularly loud pop. Dim light filtered through the frosted window behind the female as she vigorously whisked ingredients in a huge bowl. Looking more than pleased Bozu ferried sundries from the pantry, teetering comically as he carried over a massive bag of flour. Something sizzled in a shallow skillet; probably butter. Behind Megumi a plastic device of human making gurgled on the counter top, trickling a steady stream of black liquid into a glass carafe. All the while the red electric eye of its switch stared at him cagily.

Haku recognized the heavy roasted scent of coffee grounds. Immediately greedy needing surged in his chest. But standing between him and the magic elixir was the remains of their arrival. Haku had not noticed it earlier. He had been too preoccupied with Kuromi. Boulders the size of Bozu, shattered planes of wood, and sharp shards of stone scattered throughout the room. Jae dragged the broken door across the floor with Kenka's help. The males leaned the heavy plank of wood against the wall only to stare at it somberly. Hastily Jae turned away and attempted to shift one of the boulders. It did not so much as budge. The male was paler than pale and obviously unnerved by the rubble. He kept searching the ceiling as if trying to find where the rocks had fallen from.

"There's no way we're moving that," Kenka muttered.

"No shit, man!" Jae bit back.

Kenka held up his hands silently absorbing his friend's outburst as he turned away. Megumi paused as she doled batter into a skillet, glaring over her shoulder.

"He's trying to help."

Jae threw his hands at the radio in an explosive gesture.

"In case you haven't _fuckin'_ noticed, Meg, there's nothing any of us can do to help! The whole _fuckin'_ world's gone nuts and it keeps getting _fuckin'_ worse!"

Bozu hesitated in the pantry, peering uncertain under the curtain at the humans.

"Thanks for making it worse!" The female returned nastily, "Taking it out on each other's not going to help!"

"Take your own damn advice, _mom_!"

Angrily dropping the batter bowl onto the counter Megumi got right in his face.

"I'm not your mom!"

"Then stop tellin' me what t'do!"

"I'll stop telling you what to do when you stop acting like an idiot!"

Jae turned his back on her as if ready to storm out of the kitchen. The moment he reached the perimeter of the room fear pinched his face. The male whirled to face her as anger smothered his flash of apprehension. Helplessly Haku looked on as the insults flew between them.

" _Bitch!"_

" _Asshole!"_

" _Princess!"_

" _Peasant!"_

As Bozu peered out from under the pantry curtain with an uncertain frown, Haku appealed to Kenka for help. But the tall male just turned away shivering violently and looking more than exhausted. Kenka closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, pacing back and forth uncertainly as if for a way out of the kitchen. It grew obvious from the human's suffering expression that he could not stand to be in the room a moment longer. But just as Jae could not bring himself to leave the room, neither could Kenka.

"You don't know what happened to us! You didn't see! You didn't see the _fire_ an' the _fuckin' s-spiders_! _So don't act like you know everything!"_

Haku flinched as Jae's voice grew savage. The human's fear grew palpable. Haku could taste it on his tongue; bitter and sharp; almost like blood. Finally Kenka snapped, clamping his hands over his ears his shout silenced the room.

" _ENOUGH!"_

Sinking into a crouch Kenka hid his face in his hands.

"Please… Please, just stop yelling…"

The sizzle of batter in the skillet became uncomfortably loud. Fidgeting awkwardly, Megumi stared at Kenka as if she had no idea how to comfort the male. Wordlessly she petition Jae to do something. He stared back at her just as helpless until Megumi waved at their friend in exasperation. Throwing up his hands in contrition, shrinking as she threatened with a spatula, Jae slouched over to Kenka leaning companionably against the wall while looking somewhere else.

"What t'hell, man? Don't cry in front of Meg," Jae muttered uncomfortably, "Girls aren't s'posed to know guys cry. Quit giving our secrets away otherwise next thing y'know she'll be tryin' t'paint our toe nails an' giving us facials an' shit."

Kenka snorted, whispering hoarsely through frayed amusement.

"Facials are awesome."

"I know, man," Jae hushed secretively, crouching beside him now, "Especially when they smell like candy. Why t'hell do they do that? You're not s'posed to want t'eat soap."

Kenka laughed, finally surfacing from his hands to smirk at Jae sideways. His eyes and nose were raw with tears. But at least he was smiling. Both males toppled over as Bozu darted from the pantry. Megumi shrank back against the sink as the yokai yanked on her apron.

"It's burning! It's burning!"

Haku looked at the stove only to find smoke pluming from the skillet.

" _Shit! Shit! Shit!"_ Meg swore as she darted to the range.

Grasping the cast iron pan she yanked back her fingers with a yelp. Her gasp of pain hit him physically. It dislodged him from the mire off his thoughts. Already Haku was beside her. At his silent command the water in the sink gushed. He ushered her over, urging her hand under the stream. Turning he summoned the skillet from the range with a terse wave. The back door yanked open at his glance. He ejected the offending pan into the snow. Blowing between pursed lips he loosed a sharp wind at the room. In a curling gust the kitchen cleared of smoke. Since the door was open already he might as well clear the rubble. Jae and Kenka jolted to their feet, sidling away as the debris rattled to life. The door and other wood shards skittered to gather in a neat pile on the hearth. Out of this Onsen sprang in happy tongues of white. At Haku's behest the boulders bounced to life. These rolled around him in an orderly avalanche as he waved them along. Bozu joined him in rounding up the stones. The yokai admonished them thoroughly as he chased them out the back door.

"Shoo! Shoo! No rocks in the house!"

Haku frowned at the floor finding it grimy. Summoning a mop with a circle of his hand, he came up short as Bozu capered by. The yokai stood on his tip-toes peering over the counter edge.

"Pretty human, okay?"

Haku blinked as he looked up. Megumi had tucked herself up onto the counter. Her feet were in the sink. She was staring at him in wide-eyed amazement. Slowly Haku glanced back at Jae and Kenka. He found them perched atop the benches in the nook. They were gaping at him with similar expressions. As Jae continued to stare at him he grew angrier and angrier. Clenching his fists the male trembled with rage. Angry as he was, the human made no move to climb down from the table.

"What _t'fuck_ was _that_ , Kou!?"

Haku's insides scrambled as he realized he had openly used magic. Now that he was home he had not thought to censor himself.

"A-apologies, I… I s-should have used a broom…"

He snatched one off of the wall and began sweeping with vigor.

"Will you stop cleaning an' tell us what t' _fuck_ just happened?!"

Lapsing to stillness Haku leaned on the broom. Taking an unsteady breath, he shuffled uncomfortably under their scrutiny.

"I… I do not know where to begin."

"Try starting with where _t'fuck_ have you been for the last fuckin' _week!_ Your pals are an' okay bunch, but their tight-lipped as shit. They didn't explain _any_ of this. We've been tryin' t'piece it together ourselves an' having a crap shoot time of it."

Bozu cringed, creeping up behind Haku's knees to glare at Jae.

" _Shhhh!_ Foul mouth human is too loud!"

"Stay out of this, little man!" Jae shot back.

The human threw an orange cushion that the yokai deftly avoided.

"Bozu not little!" He stamped his tiny foot, "Foul-mouth human is too tall!"

Haku scooted the goblin aside with the broom while blurting a hasty answer.

"The week you speak of was barely an hour or two."

Kenka blinked and blinked and blinked.

"W-what d'you mean only an hour?"

Haku continued lamely, trying to explain the inexplicable.

"Time turns much slower than, uh, _human_ time where I have been."

Jae uttered a hysterical laugh, turning away to hide his face in his hands. Haku tried not to squirm under the weight of Megumi's eyes.

"Look. We've figured out who most of the others are but I want to know who _you_ are!" Megumi demanded beneath her breath, "All of this seems to revolve around you, so tell us the truth this time!"

Dropping his eyes to the grimy green tiles Haku tightened his hands on the broom. The haft creaked and complained as he wrung it anxiously. Remembering what she said in the park Haku realized he owed them these truths. That, however, did not make any of this an easy task for him. After remaining hidden for so long it was near impossible to reveal himself now.

"Chihiro's story isn't just a story," Kenka offered encouragingly.

Haku nodded. It was the best he could do.

"The kami who work here are the ones from the bath house."

"Most of them, yes," Haku amended lamely as words continued to fail him.

Growing frustrated with his reticence Megumi appealed to Kenka.

"But he's one of them, right? You said so."

The tall male blinked before silently appealing to him as if for permission. Haku nodded furtively nearly faint with relief as Kenka had the words he did not.

"Remember what Fuu was going on about that night? She kept saying, _'He's not a ghost! He's not a ghost!'_ "

Kenka fluttered his hands about in a half-hearted mimic of Fuu's exuberance.

"Remember what that creepy lady in green with the silver eyes called Kou that night? She called him by his real name, not the one we know him by. That's when I figured it out too."

Here Kenka flushed, anxiously rubbing the back of his head, because Jae stood bolt upright at his words shouting back explosively.

" _What t-fuck, man!?_ Y-you've known all along an' you didn't say anything!?"

Kenka threw up his hands again cringing from his friend's fury.

"I didn't say anything until now because I wanted you to hear it from Kou!"

Ignoring the males, slowly Megumi's face wiped with sudden understanding. Whispering beneath her breath again she laid him bare with truth.

"Nigihayami Kouhaku Nushi!"

Haku flinched as his true name fell from her lips. It rang in his ears like the deep knell of a distant temple bell.

"What'd you say!?" Jae snapped peevishly as he rounded on her.

Megumi was pointing now.

"He's the _dragon_ from Chihiro's story!"

Dragon: Haku flinched again as the word turned him cold as ice. As Jae choked on the word in utter disbelief Haku refused it.

"Not anymore."

As he looked at anything but her Kenka pressed in quickly.

"W-what do you mean not anymore? We saw your mask when the spiders…"

As Kenka's voice broke in that moment Haku balked.

"That is a long and difficult story."

"Paraphrase," The female instructed coldly.

A lick of anger kindled in his gut at her imperiousness. Haku glared at her from the corners of his eyes and found the female glaring back at him challengingly. She looked quite ridiculous folded up on the countertop as if afraid to set foot on the floor. All the same he felt terribly exposed beneath the weight of her eyes. She burned him with the intensity of her gaze, seeing far more than he liked. She reminded him far too much of Kubi in that moment. And he did not want to think about Kubi. Haku forced himself to admit he owed them these truths no matter how they cost him. Taking another unsteady breath he began sweeping. Work helped. He chased dirt and pebbled into piles. As he did the past spilled from him in a rush.

"I have never known how to be content with what I have. Strange that the wanting would drive me to loose everything. It drove me to give up my name. It drove me to become a thief and a traitor. Finally it drove me to renounce even myself."

The telling grew easier with every word that had eluded him before. In a way it was a relief that they should finally know him. Not in lies and half truths, but to know him as he was.

"In my selfishness I offended a Goddess. To punish me she cursed Chihiro into forgetting all about the life we had built here."

Haku struggled not to despise Sengen for what she had done to them. Hate was a terrible emotion. Unfortunately it came far too easily. Hastily he struggled to leave it behind as memory dragged him onward.

"When she left I followed her to Tokyo thinking I might somehow break her curse. I found my way to Ueno Park. I took refuge in your shed. Kazuo-san saw me dancing for alms. She took pity on me and offered me employment and shelter. I know not why. In exchange all she asked was that I dance with you. "

Curls of wind blew from him with every stroke of the broom. It scattered his work and making his effort useless. All the same he indulged in the futile task.

"That night in Shinjuku Chihiro and I met as if for the first time. She did not remember me. I could not make her remember me. There was nothing I could do. In the end it did not matter. Finally I leaned to be happy. I was grateful just to be near her. I was grateful to wash dishes in your restaurant. I was grateful to dance in your studio. Gladly I would have lived a mortal life along side you. But that was not to be."

Haku gritted his jaw as sorrow stole his voice. Swallowing with difficulty he forced himself to continue. He chased the wandering dust toward the old hearth. The white flames of Onsen's presence flickered brighter at his approach. She flooded the room with her uncanny warmth. All the same he felt bitterly cold.

"There are Gods in Tokyo still. You may wonder how it is even possible. We cannot abide by the ever broadening mire of your steel and iron; your choking polluting chemicals; the harsh endless twilight of your lights, and the caustic bite of your electricity. It is poison. Yet somehow we survive in tiny oases like Ueno Park. Most have withdrawn to live in a cavern beneath what you call Asakusa. These kami are known as Shita-no-kami: the Gods who dwell below."

"You're _shitting_ me!" Jae cut in hoarsely.

Looking back at the nook Haku found the males had taken seats. Both were gawking with rapt attention.

"Asakusa?" Kenka repeated in amazement.

His face drew into sharp lines of disquiet as he looked at the radio. As he opened his mouth to speak Jae cut him off.

"Man, that place always gave me the _fuckin'_ creeps!"

Here Megumi cut back in angrily waving her hands in confusion

"Old places are always creepy! If you're not a kami then what are you!? You can't be human! Human's can't _fly_ or catch a huge falling metal lap post!"

"Wait!? He can _fly_!?" Jae cut in incredulously.

As calmly as he could Haku tried to explain.

"I am both and neither. I cannot completely abandon what I am nor can I return to what I was. I am trapped between worlds for neither will accept me."

Kenka's face tightened with confusion.

"What do you mean they won't accept you? Why not?"

Haku began sweeping again as the topic turned extremely uncomfortable.

"Not all Gods are lucky enough to go through life unscathed. Some have lost something of themselves. A name; a limb; it does not matter what. We are _unwhole_. As a result we are reviled as carriers of bad luck."

"Luck!?" Meg was incensed, "What's _luck_ go to do with anything of this!?"

Pausing to lean on the broom, Haku looked past her towards the back fields. As he did he looked through the wall into the past. Dark and terribly things dwelt there and he cared not to remember them. All the same, memory haunted his words as he reluctantly described the Forgotten.

"Luck means everything to Gods. Unluckiness is a taint that infects kami. Unluckiness breeds more unluckiness until slowly it takes on life. It festers and feeds on hate and sorrow until it eats a kami alive. It forces the kami to forget itself and become a something else entirely."

Here the humans fell silent. Pale and shaken, they looked at anything but him.

"Dude," Kenka breathed, "That sounds _seriously_ scary…"

" _No fucking shit!"_ Jae bit back hoarsely.

"There is no guarantee that everyone who finds themselves unwhole will become such a thing. All the same there is the slightest chance. As such we are shunned. I am even further shunned. Kami may try to kill me on sight."

Megumi shook with shock.

"Why would they want to kill you!?"

"Because I am a traitor," Haku returned grimly, "I committed the ultimate transgression: I willingly relinquished my God-self so I might take on human form."

The female was further taken aback.

"Do kami really hate humans that much?"

Haku snorted as her ignorance made him impatient. Only a human could be so very oblivious.

"You are responsible for the Spirit World's death. Of course they hate you."

Again the same strained silence hit the room. Haku realized he may have spoken too bluntly. Before he could soften that blow the yokai chimed in.

"Bozu doesn't like foul-mouthed human, but Bozu doesn't hate you. Bozu thinks pretty human is pretty. Bozu thinks tall human is nice too."

Haku continued gently as he nodded to the goblin.

"Not all kami are alike. Some are more open-minded than others. Bozu is one of the Ueno-Kami: the Gods who dwell above. Like the kami here at the Onsen they have a very different outlook."

Haku, however, danced around that ultimate truth. The humans were now outcasts as well. He did not have the courage to tell them that yet.

"Not to ruin the warm-fuzzy-moment but none of this explains the _spiders_ an' the _fire_ an' all that other _crazy_ shit!"

Jae circled a hand at the ceiling before pointing at his face.

"My eyes turned gray overnight, man! _Gray!_ I'm not some kinda anime character, man! I don't do fuckin' _magic girl_ transformations. I mean they were always kinda hazel, but now they're _silver!_ So are Meg's and Kenka's and Michio's! Now we're seein' all kinds of stuff like little glowy bugs and blinkin' rock statues an'… an' _weird ass shit I ain't never seen before!_ It was nice to hear your life story, man, but I want t'hear what the hell happenin' to us!"

Shame burned him Jae forced Haku to confront the very truth he withheld. He repeated himself uselessly, stalling the inevitable.

"I did not mean to bring any of this upon you. I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to help you…."

Jae hit the table top with a fist making Kenka jolt.

" _Quit fuckin' apologizing, man, an' just tell us straight!"_

In response to the human's untoward behavior a stab of anger sparked in Haku's chest. It exceeded him. Jae shrank, growing pale as an eerie wind blew through the room. Haku growled beneath his breath in a voice that better belonged to a dragon.

"Do not assume any of this is easy for me... I am just as much a stranger in your world as you are in mine..."

Haku startled as the wood splintered in his hands. Dismayed, Haku stared at the broken bits of wood as the breeze rolling off of him made Onsen's fire gutter. The shadows in the room trembled as if also frightened. The dragon was gone as he spoke again. What remained was human enough in its shame and sorrow.

"Even as I tried to live a human life, even as I tried to turn my back on what I once was, I became embroiled in a quarrel between the Shitano-kami, the Ueno-kami, and the spiders of Uguisudani Station. Even now I do not understand why or how any of it started. All I know is that through me that quarrel spilled into your lives. It has touched you. That is why you have changed."

Unconsciously Megumi lifted a hand toward her face.

"What do you mean changed?"

Haku could not bring himself to answer her question. Instead he told a different truth just as grave.

"You are like me now," he pronounced quietly, "Trapped between."

Haku caught air as the back door suddenly snicked closed. His feet left the floor in a gust of wind that ripped through the room. Magic surged as the red tile hanging there snapped into place. Just as swiftly it yanked back open. Amano flinched, throwing up weathered hands as wild wind hit him in the face. The human was dressed for cold; he struggled to keep his hat and scarf. Shock robbed Amano of all color, making the burn scars stand out on his skin. Cold and pale: such an expression seized the human. Hope and horror; they nearly ripped him in two. Equally stunned, Haku stood in mute consternation because he knew that expression too well. So many time he had worn it himself.

What could he say to ease this burden? Nothing.

Even without uttering a word Haku betrayed himself. Insight hit the human like a punch to the chest. It rocked through him physically, forcing him to catch the door frame. Amano knew in that moment that Ikiri had not returned. The grim knowledge crushed him with its weight. Turning his back the human staggered away almost running down his son. The youngling's had followed in his father's shadow perhaps to say goodbye. As Amano disappeared Kai looked after him in confusion. His gray eyes went absolutely round as they returned only to focus on him.

"Dad!" The boy called loudly even though Amano had already seen, "They're back!"

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Her breath plumed white at her lips as she caught herself on the guestroom doorway. The aged heater installed in the far wall rattled and clanked wearily as it cranked out a miserly amount of warmth. All the interior sliders were drawn against the burning cold of winter. The fixture hanging from the ceiling was swinging wildly, casting shifting shadows across the walls and floor. Michio was nowhere to be seen. Her things, however, littered the room.

It looked as if an explosion had gone off inside of someone's suitcase. Clothes were strewn at random across the floor until the tatami mats were nearly invisible. Chihiro recognized a laptop listing half buried beneath a pile of thick quilts. She blinked, recognizing the pale blue quilt. Everything in this room pretty much belonged to her. Sheets; posters; pillows and other random homey fodder; she's packed these things to bring to Kou's apartment. They'd been in the back of her car when she took off for Izu. She'd left them there when she gave Michio the car. Michio hadn't unpacked; she'd dumped all the boxes onto the floor of the room.

Chihiro recoiled with a strangled squeak as the pile of quilts stood up. Wearing the Invader Zim pajama's Michio'd given her for her birthday the Goth surfaced from wielding the top of the kotatsu like a shield. The stinging bite of magic crackled beneath her feet as the contents of the room jolted from the floor only to go angrily whizzing through the air. The light flickered and sparked angrily as the sliders to the room threw themselves open and closed in a terrifying display of poltergeist power. Shirts, pillows, and stuffed animals hurled at Michio's shield as she screeched at the top of her lungs.

"I'm not scared of you anymore, do you hear me you _stupid haunted house!?_ I'm gonna get the fattest baldest butt-ugly Buddhist priest up I can get to _exorcise the shit outta you!_ "

At once a futon jolted off the floor, belligerently scattering electronics as it lumbered at her. With a furious snarl Michi tossed her shield and tackled it to the ground.

"Is that the best you can do!?" She sneered derisively, " _Hah!"_

Slapping aside a diving flock of shirts she straightened to stomped the life out of the mattress all the while shrieking like a madwoman.

"I live here now, got it!? This is my room an' I'm going t'paint it _green_! Not some stupid natural namby-pamby eco-friendly ferny tree green! I'm gonna paint you some _ugly_ ass kool-aid electric lime-aid, or better yet, _Barbie Doll pink!"_

Another violent shudder rattled through the boards beneath Chihiro's feet. Suddenly the sliding doors leading to the garden ripped open. The futon ejected Michio from the room like a catapult. She flew true, arching high over the short latticed banister before landing in the snowy drifts beyond.

 _"Michio!"_ Chihiro shouted in dismay as she rushed to the window.

The sliders slammed shut in her face.

"Knock it off, Onsen!"

Chihiro snapped at the ceiling as he pulled on the doors. The house's presence, however, hung over her head in a sulky cloud.

"Just go away!" Chihiro shouted in exasperation, "You're not helping, okay!?"

Abruptly the invisible cloud withdrew as the window jerked open. Cold slapped Chihiro in the face. Outside the garden was blanketed in perfect mounds of white. More snow filtered in gentle curtains from the low gray sky. Like a blot of green food coloring dripped onto a snow cone Michio was completely out of place as she sat up out of the sea of pristine white.

 _"That's it!"_ Michio raged through chattering teeth.

As Michio clambered out of the drifts with jerky wooden movements Chihiro caught hold of her, pulling her back up inside through the window.

"Get out of my way, Chihiro, _I'm going to burn down your FUCKING house!"_

Halfway over the banister Michio paused as if seeing her for the first time. She went perfectly still as her wild eyes went wide. Chihiro blinked. She stared into her friend's face and realized her friend's eyes were gray, not brown.

"Chihiro?!" Michio breathed in a tiny voice as if stunned to see her.

Then the banister snapped beneath their weight. It was purely ornamental and not designed to hold them. Down they tumbled into the tangle of clothes and sheets. Chihiro lay there for a stunned moment. Then Michio had her by the front of her yukata and was shaking her vigorously.

 _"You-fucking-bitch-when-did-you-get-back!?"_

The words came out in a furious chattering tearful stream of relief.

"Last night," Chihiro wheezed as she batted uselessly at her friend's hands.

Rolling onto her side Chihiro waved at the windows. Michio jumped, recoiling as if anticipating another assault of laundry as they clacked shut. Michio jumped again as Chihiro pulled the nearest blanket over her head and tackled her to the tatami mat.

 _"Ah!"_ Michio shrieked and squirmed, "You're feet are _frozen_!"

"They'll warm up in a second," Chihiro muttered as she cuddled close.

They lay there on a pile of clothes cuddled into each other hiding beneath the blanket. The smell of old tatami mats and the faint chalky sting of snow trigger her memory and instantly they were kids again. Michio's house was older and it didn't have any insulation. In the winter they'd hide under the kotatsu with just their heads and arms poking out so they could draw. As Chihiro considered dragging the kotatsu over Michio spoke in a quiet serious voice that didn't belonged to her at all, explaining without really explaining.

"I made it to Shimoda."

Instantly she launched into an angry rambling rant. Chihiro lay there quietly and listened.

"So I called Lydia and she's totally worried now and you _seriously_ need to give her a raise because she didn't ask any questions even though I was pretty much crying the whole time we were on the phone. Even though it was the middle of the night she got me a super fancy hotel room right on the water! I could see those stupid replica black ships they have in the harbor at that tourist museum.

"The bed was huge and awesome I couldn't sleep. I love to sleep, Chihiro, but I was too scared! I was too scared to leave the room! Too scared to order room service! Too scared to pick up the fucking phone even though they had hot fudge brownies and banana splits! I was too _fucking_ scared of everything even the stupid seagulls! But then I got mad, okay!? I got seriously mad at myself for being scared because it's not the first time this has happened."

Chihiro blinked and blinked and blinked some more.

"W-what?"

She jumped as Michio laughed with scathing with sarcasm.

"You still don't remember, do you?"

It wasn't really a question. Soon enough Michio was explaining again. Chihiro still didn't understand. All the same she listened, struggling to do exactly that.

"You know why we're such good friends even though your parents were rich and mine really poor? Because when we were little we used to see all kinds of crazy shit no one else could! You probably don't remember the glowing bugs that weren't bugs and the dust bunnies that weren't dust bunnies. The old wing of the elementary school was infested with them. Even though everyone said the place was haunted you and I used to sneak over to try and see them before class started."

Michio squirmed until she was comfortable, still talking and talking until Chihiro could hear Osaka come creeping out of her like it did whenever she talked about home.

"You used t'talk about _them_ all the time. You drew them too. I remember that the other girls were really mean to you because of it. They put glue in your hair and stole your drawings. Remember Akane Ishikawa? That bitch used to tear them up right in front of you. You were such a baby. You'd cry and just let her do it until I punched her in the nose. But that wasn't the reason why we became friend."

Here Michio shivered violently, casting an anxious glance at the ceiling.

"We started being friends because I could see them too."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHIHIRO**

Chihiro didn't know what to say to Michio. She couldn't remember much of life before she moved to Minamizu City. Some things, yes; like the color of her house and the bell at her school. But for the most part it was all fog inside her head.

"Did I ever tell you my dad could see them?"

Chihiro froze. Michio's dad died in a construction accident. It happened right after Chihiro moved away to Minamizu City. Michio almost _never_ talked about him. When she did Michio sounded like her mom: non-nonsense; coldly practical. This time was different. Chihiro'd never heard Michio talk like this. Michi wasn't the nostalgia type. She was hardcore-Shibuya: clothes, booze, clubs, and sex in exactly that order. It was kinda creepy to hear her get wistful. Michio snorted as if amused by something, dragging Chihiro out of her head.

"Even though it pissed my mom off Dad used to bring me up to the development site where he was logging. Really early right before the sun came we'd go up into the forest to the old shrine that was up there. The birds were always singing really, really loud. There were hundreds of them all squawking their heads off. It was all muddy and Dad would let me wear a pair of his work galoshes. They were huge and worked like skis on the way back. I could almost slide down the whole hill in the puddles that formed in the logging truck tracks."

"Even though it was summer it was cold. I could see my breath and it always smelled like clean dirt like it'd just rained. The light cut sideways through the trees. It was like walking through stripes: glistening gold-green for the leaves, freezing indigo for the shade, and stabbing warm flashes of white for sun. The maples were always leaning down over the trail heavy with dew from the morning mists. It made me squeal when they dripped on me. Dad would always laugh."

Here she paused as if not sure how to say what was on her mind.

"As soon as the trees started getting really old there were these little things. They weren't totoro or tanuki or anything cutesy. They were like shadows that hid under the veranda and up in the rafters of the old shrine. Little blobby shadows that scooted around in blurs when you weren't looking. They didn't have eyes but you knew they were looking at you all the same."

An odd premonition crawled across Chihiro's skin as her friend paused again before continued in that distant voice, like she was reliving all of this inside her head.

"Dad took us both one time. You were such a useless goof it was like you'd never been in a forest before. I remember I got really mad at you because you could see them better than I could. You said there were all kinds and that had little jackets and that their voices sounded like squirrels or something. Oh, I was so pissed at you because I wanted to see them the way you saw them so bad! "

Chihiro screwed up her brow until it hurt. Breathing became exceedingly difficult as she tried to remember any of this but couldn't. A stab of fear went surging through her chest that closed her throat and burned her eyes.

"I… I can't remember…"

"Of course you can't. You never could. Not since you lost your shoe and fell into that stupid river trying to get it!"

Chihiro jumped as Michio bit back harshly as if this was all her fault. But she wasn't mad at her. She was mad at someone else.

"He did this to you… He's the one who made you forget…"

Michi smoldered furiously.

"I think that's why I hated him the moment I saw him. I just knew."

"W-what're you talking about, Michi?" Chihiro stammered faintly, stymied by her friend's phantom anger.

"I'm talking about your _stupid bakemono boyfriend_ , Chihiro!"

Chihiro flinched as Michio snapped.

"Remember the river, you idiot!? We used to play in the shallow parts during the summer! But when you fell in it was right after a storm so it was running really swift! Everything changed after that!"

In a furious rush she continued.

"Even though you were fine your mom was _so pissed_ at my mom! She found all kinds of excuses for us not to play anymore. Things got really weird between us at school. You stopped talking about them. You got whiny and boring. Then your dad got that job and you moved away. I refused to go the next time Dad offered to take me to the forest. I was still pissed because I couldn't see them the same way you did. I was pissed at you for leaving."

Michio shifted restlessly, growing quieter and quieter.

"I never got another chance to go with him again because he died the next day. A big tree fell on him when they were clearing the woods around the shrine."

From the tip of her nose to her toes Chihiro went cold. It was like her heart had turned to stone inside her chest. Or worse, some kinda heavy frozen metal like lead. Michio'd never talked with her about this. She had a feeling she'd never talked about this with anyone.

"They said it was an accident but I didn't believe them. I hated that forest so much after that. I was glad when they cut down the rest of the trees; moved the shrine, and filled in that _stupid fucking river!_ I was glad when that huge subdivision project covered that hillside. I was glad the crowding houses blocked out the mountains behind them. I was glad when the stink of asphalt and the buzzing wires replaced the birds and trees. Mom got me a computer and video games with the settlement money. We moved away into a brand new house closer to the city so she could get a job. "

Michio voice thickened to a whisper as it caught in her throat.

"I hated them so much for killing my dad… I hated them so much I forced myself not to see them..."

Michio swallowed with difficulty, angrily hurrying back into her story.

"I was doing pretty good, actually. I didn't see them again until I came to get you from Izu. I didn't know what they were at first because it'd been such a long time."

Here she hushed as if absolutely terrified.

"Then I saw him in the trees when we were taking pictures with the motorcycle."

She took a miserable shuddering breath.

"I saw him again in your room that night and I was so _fuckin' scared...!_ "

Chihiro winced as Michio's hand tightened on her until they hurt.

"I seriously _hate_ that feeling, Chihiro. It reminds me way too much of what it felt like to wake up listening to my mom sobbing in the front room because the foreman came to tell us dad was dead."

Abruptly switching gears Michio forced herself to continue growing calmer and calmer with every word, which was good because Chihiro didn't know what to say to any of this. She stared at the quilt and tried not to go cross-eyed as her eyes focused on the tight grain of the material floating just above her eyes.

"By the time I came back here you were gone. Everyone was gone. Everything was smashed up and burned. You should know your _fucking_ house didn't help. It didn't want me here and it pulled all kinds of _cheep-ass_ tricks to try and get me to leave. I had to sleep in the _fucking_ car!"

Here Michio let out a gusty breath as if spent.

"I read your new book. It was the only thing that kept me from going back to Tokyo. I knew you'd come back. Then the bus showed up."

"Neh, kiddo?" Cinna whispered loudly, "Yeh under there?"

As something prodded her leg Michio set lose a blood chilling screech. The blanket flew aside as the cat uttered a sputtering hiss and recoiled as every hair on the her body stood up. The curious lantern floating in the doorway guttered a surprised pink spitting sparks before fleeing out of sight. Cinna followed in a blur of black fur as Michio scrambled up the wall staring sideways at the doorway as if afraid it might bite. Cinna glared around the edge of the door with flattened black ears. Her red eyed dilated to the point that they were all pupils. Lashing her tail as she sank into a crouch, the cat bobbed and tilted her head all the while staring unblinking at Michio.

"Neh," Cinna grated suspiciously, "Who's tha'?"

Chihiro scrambled up straightening her yukata.

"Cinna this is, Michio."

Michi's eyes were already perfectly round with recognition. The cat grimaced before jerking her head down the hall.

"There's ah bunch o' strangers in t'kitchen. They's yellin' a' kitten but 'ee don' seem t'mind. S'like 'e knows 'em 'r somethin'."

"That's Jae and Kenka and Megumi," Michio explained without explaining, "They work here."

At once Michi was gaping as the lantern floated down peering in at them with the warily flickering iris of her candle flame eye. Cinna's ears pricked and she grinned before batting at it playfully. It fled her claws with an irritable hiss of sparks, wafting higher into the rafters.

"Y'ain't never seen one a'fore?"

"Not until now," Michio continued to stare.

The lantern fled into the hall as somewhere in the messy room Michio's cell-phone alerted to a techno-remix of the Mario Brother's underground level theme. Cinna flew to her feet, tail bristled out and ears swiveling as she bobbed her head searching the room for the sound. Chihiro blinked at the impossibility as it continued to ring.

"There's no signal out here!"

At once Michio was digging.

"Your phone must suck. Either that or they put up a new tower recently."

Michio continued to search for her phone.

"No internet; only calls and texts and it sucks! There's nothing to do out here. The frogs get some signal on their TV but they only watch old lady dramas."

Finally Michio found it under a pillow and flipped open the screen. It illuminated her pale eyes eerily as they darted back and forth reading.

"Who is it?" Chihiro craned her neck nosily.

"Satako."

Chihiro jolted as if she'd been electrocuted.

"S-Satako?!"

"Yeah… She an' Lydia've been checking in on you every day now."

Again Michi's face went strangely calm as she continued to read.

"Her 'n' her mom were on their way to Kyoto t'visit family but there's no way they're going to make it now. Train service is suspended. They're stuck in Shizuoka. Bullet train just stopped there and they're gonna rent a car. Satako's hoping they can stay with us for New Years and maybe a bit longer until the earthquake gets sorted out."

Chihiro went perfectly still as eerie premonition blew through her insides. The bell in her heart tolled as if struck by some distant tremor. Again it rang and rang, growing closer and closer.

"W-what earthquake?"

* * *

 **HAKU**

Without thinking Haku dropped the splinters of the broom. With wind once again beneath his feet Haku surged past the boy. Magic sizzled on his skin, tingling in his fingertips. In one moment he was stepping through the back door of the Onsen. The next he was sprinting down the hallway of the shrine residence in Kumomi.

Punching through an invisible wall of warmth the smell of incense and smoky old wood washed over him. Not at all hindered by the abrupt change he ghosted through the dim interior of the priest's town residence. Past the closed door to Ikiri's room; around the corner into the large common room; gaining on Amano with every step. The young and old priest were here, fresh from bed, disheveled and disarranged. Both were huddled in front of a television set propped up on a rolling stand the middle of the common room. The humming modern device was completely at odds with the crackling wood fire sending a curl of thin gray smoke up into the black rafters. Already Haku could feel the burn of the static electricity tingled on his eyes and skin. So transfixed were they by the screen that they did not see him or the broken nosed fisherman as he stormed past. The video momentarily ensnared Haku. Horrible images of black smoke, red fire and filthy water poured out at him.

He did not want to see these images for they were far too familiar.

He did not want to hear the announcer telling of deaths and drowning.

Throwing himself aside, Haku nearly knocked over a female human as she emerged from the kitchen with a tray of tea looking after Amano with a worried frown. Haku immediately recognized the human who kept the grocery store in town even though the black of mourning robbed her of the light-hearted joy that had characterized her before. She screamed as he all but appeared in front of her, dropping her tray. This he caught before it could fall and spill.

"A-apologies, Naniko-san, I did not mean to frighten you!"

Keiichi cried out in surprise as he toppled over backwards. Awkwardly Haku bowed back and forth between them again and again still holding the tray as the room erupted into chaos.

"Dad! Dad, wait!"

Kai pounded down the hall after him only to come up short as Keiichi caught him. In a protective motion the young priest dragged the boy behind him. Keiichi also stepped in front of the old human still staring at him cagily. It was a rude first introduction for he and the young priest were still strangers. But somehow Keiichi already seemed to know him. An eerie recognition was beginning to flicker in his pale gray eyes.

"Oh, hello, O-Kami-sama," The old priest spoke up in surprise, "I did not see you."

The young priest cut in again, staring at him with mounting understanding.

"Are you Nigihayami Kouhaku Nushi?"

Baffled and repelled by the human's knowledge of him, Haku recoiled.

"Mom? Why's everyone yelling?"

Haku wheeled more human children appeared at the mouth of the hall. Fresh from sleep, they rubbed their eyes. Haku knew the two human boys. They were Kai's friends; Naniko's sons. One of them appealed to the young priest.

"Uncle Keiichi, who's that guy?"

Turned back to them Haku forced the tray into the brittle female's hands.

"Please excuse me, Naniko-san."

She shrank from him with before he surged by. Even as Keiichi called after him Haku was through the shrine's kitchen in a blink. The sky opened up over his head as he was out the back door. Here, in spite of all his haste, Haku came up short as his bare feet sank into snow. Cold invaded through the thin weave of his indigo yukata. Blinking up at the low hanging sky he watched as tiny flakes of white drifted in whispering ribbons through the inky bristles of the pines. Peering through the trees he found Kumomi dusted in white. Already the flakes were beginning to accumulate on the bright red and yellow stripes gables of the dark festival stalls clustered in every available space on the shrine's grounds. A scattering of humans bundled against the biting cold gathered here and there, beginning work in the gray thin light of dawn.

In the distance Amano stalked past them. The fisherman ignored their greetings as he cross the highway. He slipped out of sight down the stairs on the other side. A wind gusted through the shrine grounds making the humans scramble to catch tarps and chairs. The world blurred around him as at the bottom of the icy flight of stairs, in the frozen shadow of the deserted underpass, Haku's hand found the human's shoulder. Instead of crying out in surprise or shrinking with curses as Haku had expected, Amano turned right into him swinging a bunched fist at his face. Startled, Haku deftly stepped aside. The human sailed by, stumbling as again he whirled with fists. Easily Haku avoided the human's violence at a loss for words. Amano, however, had plenty to say.

 _"What t'hell's t'point!?"_

The human raged as he continued to lash out at him. Amano's words dealt him far more pain than any blow he might have landed. Helplessly Haku could do nothing but listen as the male flailed.

"What's t'good of being a _God_ if you're as _weak_ an' _useless_ as t'rest of us!?"

Finally Amano slipped on some ice. He would have landed hard had Haku not caught his arm.

 _"Get offa me!"_ The human snarled as white plumed on his lips.

Yanking free only to spill onto the concrete, Amano laying there panting and shaking. Haku could only stand over him in forlorn silence as he realized the human was weeping. Choking on the sobs in an attempt to silence them, Amano turned his back dashing a calloused hands at his face. Haku cringed as shame sent his inside burning with a cold that sent him sick to his core.

"Is she dead?!" Amano demanded hoarsely, "Just tell me plain, you bastard!"

"I… do not know..."

As his besieged whisper, the broken nosed fisherman glanced up at him sharply. The fury on the human's face transformed to alarm he absorbed that. Questions boiled inside of Amano's eyes; terrible, terrible questions. Taking a step away, Haku gritted his teeth and bowed his head preparing to endure them. He was not sure he could, for every word seemed to cost him dearly. But just as he owed Jae, Megumi, and Kenka; he owed Amano answers. For at the heart of all this, at the very root of it, he was responsible.

Out of nowhere Kubi's words came to haunt him. Astutely she pointed out that a curse was merely a journey in disguise. The only way for a journey to end is to find your way home. Home was not just a place. It was not just a roof and four walls. Home was the friends that dwelt within those walls. Haku could always be at home so long as he had friends. How long had it taken him to realize this?

Haku recoiled from that truth. He was not sure he could survive it. Because his selfishness had been the catalyst to cause the loss of just that for those he held most dear. Haku had broken his family. Hayashimi had been torn from Suzume just as Ikiri had been stolen from Amano and Kai. Kana, Fuu, and Shouta were forced to turn their backs on their friends. He had even caused the God children of Ueno to lose Kubi and Karasu. And Okesa; poor, poor Okesa; twice now she had lost Tomoe! That fate was too cruel. Haku's knees failed as he despaired. Crumbling to a seat on the curb, he turned his face into his hands, for he had brought the worst of curses upon his family.

 _"I am sorry..!"_

Haku choked desolately, not knowing to whom he spoke.

 _"I am so very sorry!"_

After a long moment Haku realized the human was staring him. With cold dread he glanced aside at Amano expecting hate. Instead he caught a flash of something of something very different. Was that compassion? Was it sympathy? Haku blinked. He had not expected that from Amano. But then again Haku had, after all, greatly misjudged this human.

Sitting up on the curb, Amano looked away awkwardly; turning his gaze away at the tiny village wedged between the hillsides. The human watched in silence as through the gentle veil of snow lights flicked on inside the buildings. Shivering violently, the human fumbled in his pocket, withdrawing a small plastic cylinder and a box smelling strong of tobacco. Lighting the tip with shaking hand, Amano drew long and hard on the cigarette so that the embers glowed red in the shadows of the overpass. Here the human glanced at him again frowning sharply as he stared at Haku's bare feet.

"Aren't you freezing?"

Haku blinked, rubbing his bare arms.

"Yes."

Amano snorted, staring askance at him as if mystified.

"C'mon."

The human stood, gracelessly, slapping at the snow on his rear. Then he stumped off heading for the opposite side of town. Haku looked after him in mute confusion before following silently. Letting his mind empty of thoughts, Haku walked without a word, taking in the village as they passed. Memories haunted him here as well. They crossed a narrow cement bridge by the very spot where Kai had fallen into the river, pushing out of the shadow of the highway where Haku had watched Chihiro from afar when first she came to Kumomi. They passed the tiny police department and the hospital where so many things had happened. Here they turned onto the road that ran along the shore. Looking out over the bay's glassy surface Haku found snow had capped even the twin rocks that guarded the mouth of the harbor. Unconsciously Haku glanced at the boats moored along the sea wall. A strange emotion circled his heart as he picked out Hidé's vessel.

Looking away Haku realized they were making their way to Amano's house. Haku hesitated as the broken-nosed fisherman pushed through the gate. The dilapidated fence looked as if it was the only thing holding back the wild garden within. The weathered bungalow beyond fared no better. It looked as if it were listing, foundering slightly in a sea of weeds. Amano was up the steps and stomping the snow off his boots on the porch as he put out his cigarette in a dish bristling with butts. Holding open the front door the human looked back at him in exasperation.

"C'mon in already! You're letting out all t'heat."

Amano jerked as Haku appeared beside him in his haste not to be rude. The fisherman retreated inside as Haku shut the door behind him. Warmth and dark enrobed the entryway as Amano crouched to remove his shoes.

"Want something warm t'drink? Don't really keep much besides tea."

Unnerved by the human's hospitality Haku shook his head.

"Suit yourself."

Stepping out of his shoes Amano shucked his hat, coat, and gloves. These he hooked onto the wall pegs beside the door. Haku glanced at the burn scar on the male's neck and what was exposed of his hand only to freeze as he found a black and yellow striped coat on the next hook over. It was obviously a woman's. So were several pairs of shoes tucked into the shelves beside the door. Switching on a single light Amano padded off down the hall and turned a corner. Knowing not what else to do, Haku following in his wake feeling very much out of place. The tiny house smelled very faintly of fish and wood smoke. Whatever light the bulb in the hall spared illuminated the bare dingy walls. These were cheered by the drawings both old and new taped and tacked at child-height. Gods of all shape and size covered the pages. Kai apparently had been seeing Kami his entire life.

"In here," Amano called.

Craning his neck to see inside the room where Amano had disappeared Haku found the human rummaging around in a closet, dumping clothes onto the quilt covered futon. Haku's eyes went to the single photo beside the bed. Abruptly he threw his eyes aside as he recognized the smiling faces. Hidé; Ikiri; Amano; Manami; ghosts of the past forever frozen on paper. Haku caught a winter jacket as Amano tossed it at him. It smelled strongly of salt water but it was clean and heavy.

"Don't get all uppity an' tell me you don't need these 'cause you do. You can't go wanderin' 'round dressed like that or people'r gonna think you're crazy."

The human frowned him up and down before holding out a bag. Accepting it graciously with both hands Haku found a pair of boots inside.

"You're taller'n me. You'll show a little wrist an' ankle, but at least you'll be warm. Get dressed an' meet me out back."

With that the human sidled by. The back door slammed as Haku stared at the clothes. All were clean, dry, and smelled thoroughly of human soap. Shucking his yukata he found the pants were too big at the waist but the belt remedied that. The flannel shirt was too short at the wrists but it was soft and warm; even warmer when he layered on the thick quilted vest and the canvas jacket. The poofed synthetic material was stuffed through with fibers. At the back door Haku pulled on the socks and shoes Amano had gifted him then pushed out into the backyard. The yard was littered with the bones of snow covered motorcycles. Under the overhang of the back shed Amano was dressed in oil stained coveralls. He was smoking again, breathing and blowing clouds of chemical sickness.

"I figured the Kurogane didn't make it back either."

Wheeling something out of the back, the human pulled a cover off the vehicle. Beneath was a blue walled motorcycle chromed and leather seated. It was not at all of the plastic screeching ilk he had seen in Tokyo.

"Oldie but a goldie, this's a 1969 Honda CB 750."

He patted the leather seat with a smirk as he took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Won it offa Ikeda in a poker game a few years ago. Honda put a lot in to this model. It'll get you cruisin' between 140 an' 160 km per hour on highways, but still get you maneuverin' in an' out of traffic. Brakin' system on this model's way more reliable at high speed than some of the newer street bikes. It's quieter; goes longer; an' won't rattle you apart on the way. I'm on the water more than the land these days. You take it with you, got it? Don't argue. Wherever you're going, this'll get you where you need t'go an' bring you back in one piece."

With that Amano tossed him the keys. Haku caught them only to stare at the human in astonishment. Once he had intended to eat this human out of sheer spite. Now the same man offered him help? Haku did not understand; he did not understand any of this.

"Why? " He choked on the words, "Why do you show me such kindness?"

Scowling as if all this was terribly uncomfortable, Amano was looking away now. A muscle jumped at the back of his jaw as he flustered awkwardly.

"Because you came after us."

Terror flashed like lightning in his eyes as memories of the caverns haunted him. All the same, gratitude was plain in the human's rough words.

"You saved my life; better yet, you saved my _kid's_ life. I owe you for that."

It took Haku a moment to clear the lump rising in his throat. He could not bring himself to confess that he had been the cause of their peril.

"I do not deserve your help." Haku returned hoarsely.

Ignoring him now, Amano turned to rummage around in a locker. He produced a helmet and gloves. These he placed on the motorcycle's seat. With that Amano perched on the edge of a work bench and lit another cigarette. Although the human tried to put up a cool exterior his hands shook violently.

"I signed up for this, boss. Don't forget that Reika, _may she finally get some goddamn rest_ , pretty much raised me. I've known all along that messin' with t'Otherworld comes at a price. I've been paying it all along. I'm paying it still. But it was my choice; mine, not yours. So don't go draggin' yourself down the martyr's path on my account."

Amano pulled long and hard on his cigarette. His tight words rose hoarsely in a cloud of smoke.

"The kids you brought back from Tokyo have been talking about you an' I've been listening. You know what your problem is? You gotta stop thinkin' like a God. We're not ringin' on your bell an' throwing coins an' prayers at you anymore. You're not responsible for everthin' that goes wrong. You didn't cause any of this. You were just in t'wrong place at t'wrong time just like the rest of us. Sometimes bad shit just happens, Nigihayami. Trust me. I know."

Now Amano was looking towards the ocean with deep and bitter regret. Even as outrage simmered in his heart, Haku found himself compelled to listen, because the human's words rang with a strange affinity he could not ignore.

"And once it happens it don't matter how it happened. All that matters is gettin' through it an' movin' on to somethin' else 'cause here's somethin' else they don't tell an' it's a _bitch_ of a lesson. Things can't ever be t'same no matter how much you try t'get back. Sometimes there's no going home."

Haku flinched as the last of the human's words. It struck a terribly raw chord in his heart. The bleakness of the human's perspective terrified him, because Haku fully intended to chase after what was lost. He was determined to make his home whole again. But now, standing in the shadow of Amano's words, Haku felt doubt's keen edge. It cut him deeply, making him bleed fear. Again he was hard pressed to speak as the emotion robbed him of breath.

"Have you no hope then?"

Haku blinked as Amano glared at him sideways like he was stupid. The human spat on the ground, obviously annoyed at being interrupted.

" _Tch!_ Would give you my favorite bike if I didn't have hope? I wasn't finished so shut up an' listen."

Haku gritted his teeth against an angry retort as the human continued.

"Like I was saying, sometimes there's no going home. But that's not the end of the story. Sometimes you just gotta pick up what you got left that's worth saving and leave what's worst behind. Sometimes you gotta build a new home somewhere else."

Before he could argue Amano fixed Haku with a sympathetic expression. It was the same expression the human had flashed at him beneath the overpass. Haku silenced under its intensity, dropping his eyes to avoid meeting it. This was the wisdom of one who had suffered long and hard. He was forced to listen, because as he did, Haku realized Amano was speaking about himself.

"Guilt's one of t'worst things about being human. Nobody ever tells you that either. But you know what? No matter how much people hate you for what you've done, no matter how much you hate yourself for what you've done, you gotta keep movin'. Stop moving an' you'll dry up an' die. Just keep goin', Nigihayami, cuz there's always gonna be someone somewhere down that road t'forgive you if you give 'em t'chance."

Weighed by the contradictions in the revelation, Haku did not know what to do. He looked up as again Amano was reaching to light another cigarette. Haku took it from his hand, startling the human with his sudden appearance.

"These are poison," Haku muttered lamely.

"No shit, Sherlock." Amano spat back.

They stared at each other long and hard in that moment. Again the human struggled with a riot of emotion as color fled his face. Clearly Haku saw the torment in the human's eyes for it echoed his own. Just as clearly he saw all the questions Amano could not bring himself to ask. Burying his suffering in anger, the human pushed by to pace beneath the overhang.

"I can't go with you an' it's not 'cause I'm a coward!"

Amano explained hurriedly through gritted teeth as color crept into his cheeks.

"I'd go find her myself if I could, but I'm not that much of an idiot. I can't leave Kai, not after everything he's been through."

Then he rounded on him, getting right into Haku's face. For a second he was afraid the human might try to hit him again. But instead Amano jabbed him in the chest with a single finger, causing him to lean away.

"Promise me this, Nigihayami. When you find her, no matter what state you find her in, come an' get me when you do, got it? You can owe me that much."

Calmly Haku nodded.

At once all the fight went out of Amano as the human stepped back. Taking a rude seat on one of the benches he gestured at the Honda.

"So… Do you know what to do with it?"

Haku snorted. In a blink he was astride the vehicle. Squeezing in the clutch Haku stepped down hard on the starter. The motorcycle roared to life beneath him. Amano loosed a sharp bark of a laugh.

"I'll take that as a yes."

The human was smirking, already heading over to open the back gate.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHIHIRO**

Standing at the split curtain to the kitchen she gripped the doorway. Chihiro held her breath as she listened to Haku. She and Michio had been on their way to commandeer the TV from the frogs. She heard Haku's voice before they'd made it into the kitchen. When she realized what Haku was saying his words stop her in her tracks. Standing there barring the way to the kitchen Chihiro listen to him tell what had happened when she was asleep. Her insides scrambled with familiar panic as she heard the dragon in his voice. It was terrifying and wonderful to hear that part of him again. But it disappeared all too quickly. He didn't say what happened to Lin or Kiri. Was he keeping secrets again or did he just not know? Chihiro didn't know either. Not knowing made her sick to her stomach with fear.

Chouchin bumped into her head companionably startling her from the dark thoughts as the light lifted to hover over her head emitting a rosy glow. Glancing back Chihiro found Cinna lazing in the middle of the hall taking up the whole passage so she could bask in a single thin shred of sunlight finally permeated the dawn snow fall outside. The tip of the cat's tail twitched idly as she stretched and sighed.

"So. He's the one who got us into this mess."

Chihiro jumped and her eyes flew back to Michio. Her friend was still staring at the curtain. The Goth's face was tight with difficult emotions. Chihiro blinked as she realized Michio had been listening as well. At once anger flared in her chest as a familiar flame kindled there. It was hard not to remember the angry exchange she'd had with Suzume earlier in the morning. Grabbing her friend by the sleeve she towed Michio back down the hall into the great room. Cinna scrambled out of the way, flattening against the wall as they passed. Timidly Chouchin followed, drifting up into the rafters. The lantern's eerie blue light was lost in the dawn pouring into the room through the garden sliders.

"Ow! _Ow_ , you're hurting me, Chihiro!"

Michio yanked back her arm. Without skipping a beat Chihiro quietly laid into her.

"This isn't his fault, Michio! He didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

Staring her down, Michio put up her hands defensively.

"Chill out, Chihiro. I know he didn't mean for any of this to happen. Kenka told me he just about killed himself trying to save you. It was bad luck; bad timing; whatever you want to call it. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm mad at him."

Chihiro stomped her foot furiously.

"What reason could you possibly have for being mad at him?!"

Michio snorted, coldly counting off on her fingers.

"Besides making you forget almost _everything_ after you fell in the river, the whole _stalked_ you for 6-months bit, _and_ made me start seeing crazy shit again, _this_ is still not cool with me!"

Michio pointed at her eyes before looking her up and down.

"You're not doing any better. You look like something out of a sci-fi movie."

Heat flooded Chihiro's face as she unconsciously touched her hair.

"It goes away, you know. You just need to be places that aren't so… so..."

"Haunted?" Michio suggested wryly.

"Onsen's not haunted!"

As Michio laughed in her face Chihiro sputtered in indignation. Heat surged in her veins, igniting in her stomach like a spark. A curl of smoke lifted from her lips as she blew out her breath. Surprised, Chihiro slapped a hand over her mouth. Michio blinked and blinked some more before staring at her askance.

"A-are you breathing _smoke_!?"

Lips firmly pressed together, Chihiro shook her head and lied. Michio sighed in exasperation, shivering as she shifted from foot to foot.

"Look, you're not NATO, Chihi-chan. You can't just declare a political action, rush in, and demand that everyone like each other when something goes wrong. People fuck up and get mad. That's life. But they need time to work things out for _themselves_ , got it?"

Chihiro blinked and blinked some more as that sank in. Michio was right. Chihiro was trying to declare a political action. She was trying to demand that everyone forgive and forget. It was a thoroughly childish request. Her heart went cold as she remembered the vicious look in Suzume's eyes. At that exact moment the phone at the welcome station rang. Overhead the lantern hissed and sputtered in surprise at the rasping clang. Chihiro and Michio shrank with a gasp form the rain of embers. Mutely they stared at the empty hall as it rang again. Distantly hurried footsteps slapped on the wood planks. Cinna fled into the great room, tucking up small against the doorway swiveling her velvet black ears as Natsumi darted through the hall.

The creature's wood smoke hair was a mess and her pale purple kimono uncharacteristically disarranged. She wore no coat or slippers against the cold. The yuna moved with uncanny swiftness in spite of her shuffling steps. As she passed the open doors to the great room she skidded to a halt, stumbling as she wheeled around to face them. Her eerily large almond shaped eyes stared incredulously as she began to shake. Natsumi sat down hard, clutching hands to her mouth. All the while the phone continued to ring and ring and ring.

Frozen in place, Chihiro could only stare back. None of the bath-house kami knew they'd come home. Chihiro hadn't wanted to wake them up. Not yet; not with what she had to tell them. Although she was surprised that someone hadn't come to investigate. There had been a lot of yelling this morning. Apparently the kami had gotten used to hearing humans shouting.

"Lady Sen!"

Chihiro blinked, looking up only to realize Natsumi was reaching for her. Her dark eyes were luminous with tears in the dawn . Extricating herself from Michio's grip Chihiro came forward feeling the warmth of the sunlight on her back. As she went a strange calm washed through her. She took the kami's tiny frozen hands in hers and knelt beside her. Natsumi choked on a question, appealing to her with a desperate expression as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Taking the kami into her arms she held her close, wordlessly rocking her side to side as Natsumi fell perfectly still.

"Are they dead?" The yuna finally choked in a miserable hush.

"No," Chihiro returned quietly knowing with certainty that was true.

The tiny God-woman wilted in relief, letting Chihiro hold her for a long moment. Then Natsumi nodded tremulously before drawing back. As she wiped her face with her kimono sleeve she hardened with sensibleness that reminded Chihiro too much of Lin. Instantly a knot of pain tightened in her throat sending an uncomfortable burn chasing at the edges of her eyes. She swallowed it, putting forward a strong front as she resolutely meet the yuna's weary gaze. Obviously afraid, Natsumi kept hold of her hands as if afraid to let go, whispering the next beneath her breath.

"How long are you home this time?"

Here Chihiro's composure faltered. After she finally found her way home, now she was forced to leave again.

"I… I don't know."

"At least stay until tomorrow?" Natsumi pleaded quietly, tightening her hands, "Tonight is New Years. We've been asked to perform at the shrine like we did at the summer festival. Please say you'll come at least for a little while? I know it will mean so much to the others. Help us begin in the next year on a happy note?"

Chihiro blinked.

It was New Years!?

"Okay," she nodded with a smile that felt like a lie, "We'll stay till tomorrow."

The old yuna's face lit up like the moon as she smiled. Chihiro jolted at the God-woman planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you, Lady Sen!" Natsumi cried joyously, "The others will be so pleased."

As Chihiro opened her mouth to ask about them the phone started ringing again. Before she could waved it into silence the ringing stopped. For some reason she paused, looking toward the kitchen. Kenka pushed through the split of the curtains. He blinked, coming up short as he saw her.

"C-Chihiro?" He began uncertainly, "Your mom's on the phone."

Stupidly she stared at him. She couldn't remember the last time she'd talked to her mom. They had been on the outs with each other since she'd left for Tokyo. An eerie premonition tightened in her chest as the bell rang deep in the back of her head. Blinking and blinking some more, she stood awkwardly and made her way into the kitchen as Kenka retreated through the curtain. Ducking through the split in the fabric, she marveled at the warmth held in by the curtain. Here Chihiro came up short on the top step as Haku's friends turned to stare at her. They wore the same wide-eye expression of shock Natsumi turned on her not too long ago. Abruptly they looked away, busying themselves with making breakfast. It smelled like a French restaurant; bread, eggs, and herbs; no rice or fish. Instantly her mouth was watering.

"Wow," she went weak kneed with hunger, "That smells insanely good!"

"It'll be ready in a bit," the really pretty woman commented shortly.

What was her name? Megumi? But then Chihiro noticed someone missing. She turned in a circle, finishing by looking up at the rafters.

"W-where's Haku?"

Jae cast an unnerved glance at the back door as he cracked eggs into a bowl.

"He, uh… He went through there to that shrine in town."

"Oh."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. Why'd he go into the village? Here Kenka held out the heavy black receiver. Blinking rapidly, she forgot about everything else as she accepted it with shaking hands. A pinch of apprehension was already tightening he chest. Talking to her mom was never easy.

"Mom?"

 _"Oh, my God, Chihiro!"_ Yuka all but shrieked from the other end.

Chihiro cringed, holding the phone at arm's length her mom continued to scream. All the blood rushed to her face as everyone looked over at her. You probably could've heard Yuka all the way in Kumomi.

 _"I know Asakusa's no where near Aoyama! I tried calling the house but no one picked up. I tried your cell phone but the call wouldn't go!"_

Chihiro fell perfectly still as she listened to her mother's voice. Her mom was upset; like really, really upset. She wasn't even close to this upset after the car accident.

" _Oh, Gods!_ The pictures and the video they keep showing on the news are terrible! Everything's _flooded_ and on _fire!_ I though you were still in Tokyo! I was so very worried about you! _I'm so glad you're alright, sweet pea!_ "

Her mom hadn't called her that in years. The pet name triggered all kinds of difficult emotions. Stunned, Chihiro sank to a seat on the edge of the stool Kenka brought her. The tall guy hovered at her elbow, face pinched in silent concern. But her mom wasn't done yet.

" _I'm sorry!_ I'm so sorry been so hard on you! I'm sorry I gave you all that terrible advice about Karou and that I wasn't supportive after your friend died in the car accident! I've never known what to do with you! You were always such a strange little girl. I never felt like you were mine. I used to joke with your father that they sent us home with the wrong baby. But you are my girl. I was just too scared to admit it. I was afraid I was going to do everything wrong just like my mother did with me."

Chihiro couldn't believe it, but her mom was crying! She could barely understand her she was sobbing so loudly. She couldn't imagine her mother crying; mascara running; pink lipstick all smeared. It shook her to the core, making her sick with panic. At once she was stammering inane comforting things in a rush.

"It's okay, mom! Really, it's okay!"

"Come home, Chihiro! Please come home!"

Yuka pretty much begged.

"I don't know if you can, but say you'll try? After everything that's happened this year I want a new start for us. Your father has a few days off around New Years. We can have fried chicken and cake for diner and go to the shrine in town together. You'd like that, right? We can buy good luck arrows together."

Chihiro blinked, completely stunned by all this. Yuka wasn't religious in the slightest. The only Gods she prayed to were Louis Vuitton and Lancome of Paris. As her world turned upside down all she could do was say yes.

"O-okay! I'll be there as soon as I can tomorrow."

"Really?" Yuka's voice cracked as finally she stopped sobbing.

"I'll call you first thing in the morning when we get on the road, okay mom?"

"Thank you, sweet-pea! Your father's going to be so excited! I'll have your room all ready. If Michio's with you be sure to bring her too. Call me later and let me know, I have so much to do. I have to go to the store now. Bye-bye! Bye-bye!"

Yuka hung up before she could respond.

"B-bye, mom," Chihiro whispered.

As she returned the receiver to the cradle Michio cut into the silence.

"Did I just hear you tell Yuka you're coming home tomorrow?"

Chihiro jolted on the stool. Turning back to the room she found Michio was perched on the edge of the bottom step. The Goth was glaring at her like she was a complete idiot. Chihiro blinked, looking after Kenka as the guy left her side to hastily join Jae and Megumi at the stove. Hurriedly he looked for something to do only to come up short. Chihiro frowned at the worried look Megumi flashed Jae as she continued to fry pancakes. Pulling in two directions, Chihiro turned back to Michio.

"What was I supposed to say? No?"

Michio threw up her hands in exasperation, "Yes, Chihiro! Absolutely, no!"

"Why?!" She threw back hotly, "She's my mom!"

"You really think that's a good idea right now?" The Goth hissed back as by way of further explanation she waved wildly in every direction.

"It'll just be for a little bit. Just long enough to calm her down. She's _totally_ freaked out right now because of everything that's going on in Tokyo!"

They all jumped as something clattered on the floor. It was a metal mixing bowl. With his back to her Kenka bent over the kitchen counter. He didn't bend to pick it up. He was gripping the edge of the counter like his life depended on it. Chihiro's insides scrambled with dismay as he shook visibly. Before Megumi or Jae could do anything he threw down his kitchen towel. Without a word he fled up the back stairs into the second story. In wordless dismay Jae and Megumi looked after him. Michio leapt to her feet as a yokai darted out of the pantry to pick up the towel and metal bowl Kenka dropped, holding these out to the grim faced woman at the stove as he pointed after Kenka.

"Tall human is sad."

As Bozu stated the obvious Jae loosed an angry growl. He scrubbed his face with his hands before throwing one the way Kenka had fled.

"I'm tryin' my best not t'listen in on your personal shit, but could you be a little more sensitive t'the fact that some of us _can't_ go home right now? So, d'you mind takin' your _fucking_ vacation plans somewhere else!?"

Chihiro cringed as she realized what an insensitive jerk she'd just been.

"Fuck you, asshole!" Michio snapped back nastily.

"Any time, sweetheart!"

Jae threw one of the eggshells he had just cracked. Michio uttered an incredulous noise as it bounced off of her shin. Snagging one of the sitting cushions from the nook she hurled it at him. Shrinking under his hat Bozu fled back into the pantry with a squeal. Jae ducked and it flew right over his head. The cushion narrowly missed Megumi. Onsen guttered in the hearth as it hit the back window. The wall jolted, sending cooking utensils clattering into the sink.

 _"Goddamnit!"_ Megumi thundered as she straightened shaking her fists, "If you're going to act like children will you _get out of the kitchen and let me work!?"_

Chihiro did exactly that. Leaving them behind, she followed Kenka up the back stairs. Cold folded around her as she padded down the empty hall. Her breath plumed white at her lips. But even up here the quiet couldn't entirely muffle the angry shouts from below. As she passed the back window she came up short. The Bath House kami were standing on the veranda outside the God wing. Natsumi was among them looking like she was explaining something. Her heart swelled at the sight of them. But the sweet moment turned sour. From their expressions she could tell they were listening in on the kitchen warfare. From their expressions the Gods looked afraid to enter their own house. Mortified, Chihiro passed the window by before they could see her. Before she could round the corner Chihiro paused again. Voices filtered from further down the hall, not the kitchen. She recognized Suzume's voice immediately.

"What is it, child? Does your heart pain you?"

Chihiro blinked, taken aback by the gentleness in the fox's tone.

"No," Kenka muttered as he snuffled loudly, "It's not that. You fixed that."

In a flash Chihiro remembered how Suzume had help Kenka during his attack. Jae said he had heart problems that needed medication. Suzume pressed on with stubborn concern.

"But you clutch your chest as if it pains you."

"Oh… I… I'm just really sad," Kenka explained in a quiet rush, "No offense, but everything's kinda gone to hell in my life. I… I'm worried about someone I love. I'm scared I'll never see him again."

"I see," Suzume returned quietly.

Chihiro's heart sank as she listened. There was so much more to it than that. Here Kenka's voice went soft and small with awe.

"Thanks. I never did get to tell you thank you. For everything, I mean."

"It is my duty, child." Suzume responded woodenly

"A-are you okay?" Kenka began hesitantly, "You kinda look the way I feel."

Chihiro held her breath in worried anticipation of the fox's harsh bark. But it never came.

"It is as you say, child," Suzume murmured, "Everything has gone to hell."

Silence fell between them at that. Quickly Kenka changed the subject.

"T-Thanks," he repeated, "For letting us stay here."

"I have little say in that matter, child," the fox replied evasively, obviously embarrassed by Kenka's gratitude, "This house is cared for by Chihiro. It is by her grace that those who dwell here may call this place home. "

It took her a moment to absorb that. He made it sound like she could kick them out at any moment.

"Is it alive? This h-house, I mean."

Suzume snorted as if amused.

"And what gives you that idea?"

Chihiro blinked. Wait… Was Suzume teasing Kenka? At once Kenka explained hurriedly as if afraid someone might overhear him.

"S-sometimes I feel something watching me up in the rafters. Doors open and close and stuff flies around. I thought that might just be the k-… the others who live there. Then I thought it might be ghosts or stuff I can't see?"

"It is indeed the house," Suzume returned cryptically.

Kenka paused as if absorbing that.

"Does it have a name?"

"What would it matter if she does?"

He was still teasing, but Chihiro found herself wondering if Onsen actually had a name. Suzume was letting on as if she did have a name. If she did have a name Chihiro wanted to know too. Hunkering down she listened in intently.

"Oh… It's a she? Okay."

Kenka seemed a bit overwhelmed by that.

"If she can hear me I'd like to talk to her. I get the feeling she's trying to be nice to me. I s'pose I just wanted to thank her for putting up with us."

Something clattered loudly in the kitchen below. Jae and Megumi's voices spiked loudly. Here Kenka sighed gustily. She could hear Suzume smiling as he spoke next.

"Do not worry, child. She knows you are grateful."

Chihiro jumped, uttering a tiny squeak as the house creaked and snapped.

"Hmmm," Suzume muttered archly, "It appears we have mice."

"Huh?" Kenka returned in confusion.

"Nothing."

Finally, Chihiro couldn't take it anymore. Peering around the corner she found Kenka on the top step of the empty hall. Suzume was nowhere to be seen. Kenka startled as if just noticing this himself. He jumped again as she came around the corner pink cheeked with embarrassment. His face fell as he saw her. Dropping his head, he absently smoothed the short-cropped hair at his nape as she came over to sit beside him.

"Sorry," he muttered, "Didn't mean to storm off like that."

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I was being an insensitive jerk."

Here the silence stretched to the point of becoming uncomfortable. In a panic Chihiro started babbling.

"Do you have a lot of family?"

"Nope," he fiddled absently with his rainbow colored necklace, "Just Shouta."

Here his face fell even more. His dark eyes turned hollow as they stared down the stairs. Feeling even more like a complete jerk Chihiro started wringing her hands.

"I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't've asked."

"Seriously, its okay, Chihiro."

Kenka flashed a smile so brittle it nearly broke. Again she was babbling; desperate to say something to make him feel better.

"You can stay here as long as you like."

"Thanks. I might take you up on that," Kenka frowned somberly, "Dunno about Jae and Meg, though."

Chihiro blinked, suddenly worried.

"Are they thinking about leaving?"

Kenka glanced at her sideways with an uncertain frown.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Chihiro, but Meg doesn't need a place to stay. She's loaded; like crazy rich. She chose to work at Le Pichet just like she chose to work at the dance studio. The only reason she's sticking around is because of Jae."

Chihiro frowned.

"Oh. Are they, um… together or something?"

Kenka laughed explosively. He covered his mouth before leaning close as if this was a secret.

"Ask them and they'll describe themselves as emphatically, completely, and absolutely _not_ together. But you've seen them. They _hate_ each other so much it's obvious to everyone but them."

Here Kenka's grin fell as he became completely serious.

"I really think that's why they're at each other so much. I think that's why Megumi's so mean to Kana. Kana's got a _major_ thing for Jae."

Chihiro held her breath against questions, not wanting to be rude again.

"Megumi's been studying all her life to be a principal dancer."

As she stared at him blankly his grin returned, growing wider and wider.

"That's ballet-speak for the most important dancer in a company."

Here he launched back into his story about Megumi. Intrigued by where this was going Chihiro leaned against the wall and listened.

"She and her brother were shipped off for private lessons in France and Russia as soon as they could walk. Unfortunately rich people aren't very good at mixing it up. Meg trained exclusively with her brother pretty much her whole life. "

Here Kenka grew speculative again.

"From what I've heard about Sora he's a serious bitch with a massive power complex. I think her brother isolated Meg from other dancers on purpose because she was better than he was. At least she used to be."

Chihiro blinked and spoke up in spite of herself.

"What d'you mean, use to be?"

A touch of awe touched him as he looked overhead.

"Meg burns it up in solo performance. She's absolutely amazing. I hope you get to see her dance. She could be the next Yoko Morishita (1). But here's the kicker: the moment you ask her to perform a _pas de deux_ (2) with anyone other than her brother she's toast! The same for dancing with a chorus; she just can't do it. That's a crippling deficiency for any dancer, not just a principle. She never got past it. Her brother's career took off but she never went anywhere but his practice studio. At least until she met Jae."

Kenka's face lit up again as if excited by their prospects. It was obvious from his animated gestures how much he loved dance.

"Meg's brother's apparently some hotshot for the New National Theater in Tokyo. He has the dance master use Meg in auditions to see how the male dancers handle working with an _ill-match partner_."

With the last Kenka drew derisive quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

"Boy, they sure got a surprise when they set up Jae and Megumi. Imagine how shocked they were? Here's Jae: this rough-edged foul-mouthed punk who you'd expect to beat you up, steal your wallet, and use the money to go boozing. There's Meg: ice princess with a pedigree and serious legs but no chops what-so-ever when it comes to partnering. Dude, I seriously wish I had been there to see it."

Here Kenka chortled triumphantly, crossing his arms and sitting back.

"Jae made the cut. The director was so impressed they _both_ made the cut."

Here Kenka's face fell as he lapsed into silence. Before she could explode he picked up where she left off.

"After the announcement one of the other applicants gave Jae a hard time about being half-Korean. Jae responded exactly as you'd expect him to. _Pow!_ "

Wearily Kenka pantomimed an upper-cut punch before frowning grimly.

"They kicked him out and barred him from all the major ballet auditions. It took Jae almost six months to pay back that asshole's medical bills. He would've stopped dancing, but Kazuo-sensei wouldn't let him."

Kenka spread his hands helplessly before going back to picking at his necklace.

"She came after him, you know? It took her a while, but Meg tracked Jae down. I'd never seen her before so I didn't think anything of it when she started working in the kitchen as our _pâtissière_ (3). I mean, she was practically raised in France. Apparently she took up French cooking in her free time. Jae didn't say anything about it either. They treated each other like strangers. I only started to catch on when she showed up in the studio. They had some serious history. You can see it when you watch them dance together."

Here he grew wistful, pillowing his chin in the cup of his palm.

"I've only seen them a couple of times. They only practice when they think no one is around. You know when two people just click? When Jae and Meg dance they more than click. It's like they've got some kinda Vulcan mind-meld going on. But Meg's got a serious attitude problem. We have her brother to thank for that one. She's been dancing angry her whole life. It's not easy to turn that around. Jae's been working on that. Meg's been working on it too. Unfortunately it's slow work for the both of them and the fall out seriously pisses off the rest of us."

Mystified, Chihiro frowned at Kenka.

"How do you know all this?"

He shrugged diffidently.

"I listen. People like to talk to people who listen. Meg doesn't have any friends. She's actually pretty cool when you can get her by herself in a safe place."

Here Kenka fixed her with a knowing sideways glance.

"Anyways, I can tell you like to ask questions. I told you all this preemptively so you wouldn't ask Jae or Megumi. Don't let on what I told you. Just leave it alone. Let them work it out themselves."

Chihiro blinked as he called her out only to wilt in embarrassment.

"Sorry… I don't mean to be nosy."

Kenka bumped her shoulder companionably.

"S'okay, Chihiro. I know you're just concerned. In all honesty, I'm really glad to have someone looking out for all of us right now."

Here his face went dark with fear as he stared down the stairs. This silence was more than awkward. It was critically grim. Kenka crossed his arms over his chest, hunching as he did. Heat flooded her cold cheeks as he furtively glanced at her hair.

"How bad is it really? Tell me the truth, okay?" He murmured tremulously, "Is this something I can live with? Can I get another job, an apartment, and maybe a cat? Or is this really a game changer?"

Looking away abruptly, Chihiro followed his gaze down the stairs. She tried not to think about the scar on her leg. She tried not to hear what Haku had said in the kitchen below. But in the end she couldn't lie. Weird; wasn't that supposed to be a kami problem? Taking a deep breath she leaned into him, hooking her arm through his.

"I think you should stay here for a while."

Kenka blinked, looking at her sharply as if he had been expecting a different answer. As she refused to meet his gaze he nodded wordlessly. As he began to shake she put her arm around him. Wow, he really was all limbs. Skinny, skinny, bird; she could feel his heart hammering away in his chest. He leaned on her more and more until she turned to hug him. Like she was some kind of life preserver he held onto her so tightly it almost hurt. She didn't care. She was happy to let him squeeze her until she squeaked. After a long moment he let out the breath he was holding, sitting back. For some reason he wouldn't look at her, snuffling and dashing a hand at his eyes as if embarrassed.

"I heard you and Natsumi talking. Sorry for listening in. You're not just going to visit your Mom tomorrow. You're going after the ones who're still missing."

It wasn't a question.

"Ikiri, right? And Hayashimi?"

Chihiro cringed from the names as Kenka pressed her for info she didn't have.

"Where are you going? Can you tell me that much?"

She folded up her legs, hiding her face in her knees as she shivered violently. But the shudders rattling her teeth had nothing to with the cold. The terrible helplessness of not knowing returned, pouring over her like a bucket of ice water until she was shaking with worry. Kenka sidled closer, wrapping his arm around her, murmuring useless things.

"Its okay, Chihiro… It's going to be okay…"

"It's not okay, Kenka! I don't understand anything about what happened last night! I don't know who Shurui is! I don't know anything about that bell, or Shitamachi, or the Ueno-Kami, or the _stupid_ cavern Kubi was going on about! I don't even know where to start looking for it!"

Fighting the urge to cry Chihiro gritted her teeth against despair.

"Don't cry, kami-human. Bozu and Chouchin can help."

They gasped in unison, jolting back against the stairs. Standing on the middle landing of the front stairs was the one-eyed yokai. Bobbing out from under the first floor rafters the lantern drifted over its head. The tiny creature blinked at them solemnly as he wrung the brim of an old bowler.

"We are Ueno-kami. We live in Ueno our whole lives."

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) Yoko Morishita (森下洋子 Morishita Yoko, born in Hiroshima December 7, 1948) is a Japanese ballerina for Matsuyama Ballet Company. She represented Japan as a prima ballerina. Won for the Gold Medal at the 1974 Varna International Ballet Competition, one of the highest honor any ballet dancer can achieve.

(2) In ballet, _pas de deux_ (French, steps of two) is a type of duet. This is one of the danced performed by a principal dancer. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of soloist; however, principals are hired by a company to regularly perform not only solos, but also _pas de deux_. It is a coveted position in the company and the most prominent position a dancer can receive.

(3) A pastry chef or station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHIHIRO**

As she floated higher and higher, warming the dark with her rosy light, Chouchin watched them through a soot smudge part in the ribs with the flitting blue flame of her eye. Oblivious to their surprise, Bozu plopped down on the middle landing, sitting seiza on the bare boards as produced a fold of brittle paper from the front of his drab kimono.

"Kami used to live up top but went under when humans started fighting in Ueno."

Unfolding the paper he showed an ancient ukiyo-e print. It was a battle scene: burning buildings and tiny people running around with pikes. Chihiro stared at it mutely. She had no idea what it meant. Kenka blinked rapidly, leaning forward to peer at it.

"I, uh… I think he's talking about the Battle of Ueno. (1) We went on a fieldtrip to Ueno Park in high school to see the National Museum. That's Kan'ei-ji in the print. It's the old temple complex that used to include the big pagoda over by the zoo (2). Most of it burned down way back when"

"Boshin War," Bozu added solemnly as he folded the print, "1868."

"Wait… 1868!?"Kenka was stunned, "H-how old are you?"

Bozu glared as he jammed his tonsured head back into the bowler.

" _Shhhh!_ Tall-human is rude!"

Turning up his nose, the yokai addressed Chihiro instead.

"Bozu used to live at Kan'ei-ji."

He held out his tattered sleeves revealing it was a monk's robe.

"Abbot was nice human. Always smiling. Always left rice and tea for Bozu. Bozu helped keep silly monks quiet. Bozu listened to make sure they weren't too loud. If humans were too loud, or too stupid, then Bozu tell them to be quiet!" (3)

He grinned as he held up a single finger and shushed loudly. But here his face fell as the goblin's single eye fixed on the floor.

"When humans started fighting Kan'ei-ji burned… Everything burned… Not even shrines and temples safe. Kami can't survive human fire so went under ground. Shut up tight in the caverns and never came up."

Bozu held up his four-fingered hands before making them into a circle.

"Used to be eight caverns. Built Wheel of Yamanote to travel between. Big wheel! So big makes ground shake!"

Stretching onto his tip toes Bozu gestured grandly. Immediately Kenka's eyes lit up with recognition at the name. Chihiro glanced at him enviously wishing she knew what that meant. But she held her breath against questions not wanting to interrupt, because finally she was getting some answers. As Bozu continued he fell grim, put his tiny hands on his chest.

"Kami went under to hide from human evil. Bad idea because bad was already inside. Not just inside the caverns but inside us. Shrine kami got mad at the temple kami 'cause said was their fault for bringing in the bad. Temple kami got mad at shrine kami for saying it was their fault. Started fighting each other below just like the stupid humans up top. Kami killed kami for no reason! Broke the Wheel and made the earth shake so bad caverns collapsed!" (4)

Stricken by the memory Bozu shrank in on himself.

"Only one cavern left after that. No temple kami left. Only Bozu and stupid, stupid bat. Barely any shrine kami left either. Bad was so bad by now started _eating_ each other 'cause was so bad. Shitamachi had to open up or else there'd be nobody left. Wasn't any help because was even worse up top."

Bozu lifted his eye to the ceiling as he tipped the brim of the bowler back.

"Human's made the sky rain fire. Out of the fire came Garuda and Kubi-san."

Bozu suddenly jerked as his wide eye all but devoured his face.

" _Ah!"_ He shrieked as if remembering something important.

Kenka hauled her upright, pulling her up the stairs to her feet as the goblin capered forward pointing at her accusingly.

"Kami-human must tell Bozu where is Kubi-san! Bozu promised Ueno-kami he'd bring her back. Tell Bozu now! Where is she!? _Where is Kubi-san!?_ "

Before he could clamber up the rest of the stairs and chase after them Cinna appeared with a hiss. The startled yokai disappeared into twist of shadows before the cat could pounce on him. Landing with a loud thud on the empty board, the cat lashed her bushy tail, growling low in her throat as she stalked a circle glaring up at the lantern. Chouchin spat sparks of surprise. Wiggling her sharp claws, Cinna's red eyes contracted to slits as she sat on her haunches, shimmying her shoulders as if making ready to jump. Guttering and sputtering, the lantern shot up into the rafters where she pressed pale and dim with fear.

"Cinna!" Chihiro demanded breathlessly, "What the heck was _that_!?"

Flattening her ears, the cat glared up at them with red reflective eyes. Kenka flinched, pulling on her even as she resisted.

"Aye don' trust no _Temple_ Kami!"

She spat the word viciously, lashing her tail again.

"But he has information we need!"

The cat hissed, baring her sharp yellow teeth.

"Does 'e!? Wot tha' pipsqueak got t'say don' matter _squat!_ Y'don' wanna get mixed up wit' 'em. He an' tha' long-necked bitch's wot got us in t'this _mess!_ They's got's too many devices! Always wheedling an' dealin'! S'no good, kiddo!"

Taken aback by the cat's vehemence, Chihiro swallowed with difficulty. What was it Tomoe said about Kubi?

 _This one is known to me. Too much fault lies at her feet._

She struggled to resurrect the ghost's words from her memory.

 _I will not see her betray us for the sake of her own._

She had no idea what to make of this. Who could she trust? Suddenly the cat's ears were swiveling, listening to something intently. Hunkering down, she craned her neck to peer toward the entryway.

"Y'hear tha'?"

Chihiro strained her ears, catching a distantly approaching putter.

"Sounds like a motorcycle."

"S'comin'up t'front drive!"

Cinna darted around the corner, heading for the entryway. Grabbing Kenka's arm Chihiro towed him behind her. Already the door was open. Beyond the overhang of the veranda the world was blanketed in white. But the low heavy clouds had already broken. Frozen shards of sapphire sky turned the world into a glittering fantasy. Light flashed off chrome as chugging along, cutting a deep path in the snow beneath the bending bamboo, a vintage blue bike appeared out of the banks. Chihiro didn't recognize his clothes or the white helmet he wore. But she knew the rider immediately. So did Kenka. He let loose an amazed laugh.

"Where the hell did he get _that_?"

As they loitered at the edge of the deck Haku pulled to a stop beside the snow covered bulk of her Audi. Cutting the engine he pulled off his helmet and shook out his short hair like something straight out of a movie. Kenka uttered another laugh that blew up from his lips in a frozen cloud.

" _Dude!_ That was a serious entrance."

Chihiro heart thrilled into her throat as Haku came striding across the bridge. He was pink cheeked from the cold and smiling broadly. His green eyes flashed like bits of sea glass beneath the inky fringe of his hair. It was times like this Chihiro was reminded he was still part God. Only Gods could be this beautiful. In his faded black jeans and the worn canvas jacket he could've been on the cover of some terrible middle aged woman's magazine. Gladly Chihiro would've bought that magazine.

Already he was holding out his arms for her. She could've jumped off the veranda right into them. Unfortunately Cinna beat her to it. Chihiro startled sideways knocking right into Kenka as a blur of black launched by. The cat vaulted off the edge of the deck like a high-diver springing from a board. Haku caught the cat as he wheeled sideways, using her momentum to sling her up over his shoulder like a bag of rice. He moved with sinuous balance even as Cinna wiggled enthusiastically on his shoulder. Stunned, Chihiro found herself staring. Anyone else would've ended up in the snow.

 _"Neh, neh, neh!"_ The cat rasped enthusiastically, _"Make me breakfast, neh!"_

It wasn't a request. She pulled on the back of his coat before counting off on her fingers.

"Aye wan' eggs an' toast wit' strawberry jam an' bacon an' more bacon."

Haku sighed wearing something between a smirk and a frown. His mellow tenor was bright affection as he hefted her down into his arms.

"Jae and Megumi have already begun breakfast, Okesa."

As if she weighted nothing he set her on her feet only to submit as the loudly purring cat seized him around the middle. Vigorously she rubbed her face against his chest covering him in black fur. It became obvious the cat wasn't listening as she continued.

"Don' forget t'jam, neh? An' t'bacon. Aye love bacon."

Cinna grinned up at him, swatting him hard on the butt before skipping back into the house. Kenka choked on a laugh as Haku went absolutely red in the face, avoiding looking at her as he tried to dust the cat fur from his shirt. All the same his green eyes were shining as he fought to retain his indignant expression. But here Chihiro's heart sank as a cloud passed over Haku's eyes. In the same moment Michio wandered out onto the veranda. She looked him up and down as if judging every inch.

"Came to see what the fuss was about. Oh, look. It's you."

He bowed gracefully though his eyes never left her.

"Good morning, Michio-san."

"Don't see what's so good about it," She sniffed, "Sorry I came after you this morning. Don't worry. I've got plenty of bootlaces."

She wasn't sorry at all. All the same, Haku flashed a wan smile.

"Since you are missing your knives I took your words in jest."

"Funny that; there's plenty of knives in the kitchen. Nice hair cut, by the way. Makes you look like less of a stalker."

Haku's smile tightened as he tried to be diplomatic.

"I am pleased that you approve, Michio-san."

Again she snorted.

"I never said I approved."

With that she turned her back and shuffling back into the house. Red faced with mortification, Chihiro wilted into her hands.

"Sorry… Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

"Do not apologize, dear one," Haku amended lightly as he looked after Michio, "I though that went well."

Kenka followed his gaze with a perplexed moue.

"Dude, what'd you do to piss her off?"

Haku sighed. "I exist."

Kenka blinked. "So she just hates your guts?"

Haku nodded solemnly, "Unfortunately, yes."

"Right. Duly noted that you two are not to sit anywhere near each other."

Shivering violently, Kenka jabbed a thumb down the hall.

"Mind if I duck back inside? I'm gonna freeze if I stay out here."

Haku bowed in gratitude to his friend.

"Thank you, Kenka. We'll be right in."

"Dude, stop bowing! This isn't the Edo era. You can just wave, remember? Or if you want to be cool about it just put up your hand like this."

As Kenka laughed and flapped his hand Haku went red in the face. Following the instructions he lifted a single hand awkwardly. Chihiro had to hold her breath to keep from laughing.

"See? That didn't kill you, did it?"

"I feel terribly rude," Haku muttered uncomfortably.

"It's fine, dude. See you at breakfast."

With a wave and a smile the tall guy hurried back into the warmth of the house. Chihiro stared after him worrying. He looked like he was feeling better. But was he really? Thankfully Haku distracted her as knelt beside her to untie his shoes. At once Chihiro was staring, mesmerized by the way he moved. Before she realized it, he'd straightened enough so that his face was level with hers. Startled, she knocked back against the wall only to have him follow. As Haku leaned in the warmth of his body crushed against her. His adoring green eyes filled her vision, shining again as his smiling lips murmured against hers.

"Good morning, dear one."

Then he stole a kiss that made her knees go weak.

"Hi," she breathed against his lips.

Gathering handfuls of his shirt she pulled hard. He sucked in a startled breath that turned to a chuckle as he knocked into her, following obediently as they sank to a rude seat on the bench that ran beneath the overhang. Using him for a blanket Chihiro curled up under his arm, practically climbing inside his coat.

"If you are cold, dear one, we should go inside."

She ignored his sensible suggestion shivering stubbornly.

"Not yet."

She was still having trouble believing this was all real. It was so surreal; being here with him after everything that'd happened. All she wanted to do was just sit with him. She just wanted to feel him against her. The physical contact was proof she desperately needed, because she was so very scared that this might turn out to be another dream. Chihiro wanted to have him to herself for a bit more before it got... _hectic_. That was a terrible way to characterize the way things stood. It was such a gross understatement Chihiro felt ashamed for even thinking it. But even as they sat there listening to the gentle whisper of the creek, even as the snow began to slough off the roof, making the icicles melt in the increasing sun, Chihiro could feel the weight of what had happened come pressing down on them.

"I have been to see Amano-san."

She had to swallow before she could speak. Her mouth had gone completely dry.

"Is he okay?"

It was the dumbest question she could have asked. Already her face was burning from just how stupid. What was wrong with her this morning!?

"No." Haku returned quietly.

Looking up, she found Haku's face dark and distant as his glittering eyes stared over the bridge at the bike. Chihiro couldn't think of anything else to say that could possible make him happy. So she just blurted it out hoping it would help.

"Satako is coming."

Haku's his face wiped in shock as he looked down at her.

"Satako?!"

Chihiro nodded and hurried on.

"She and her mom were on the early train from Kyoto but it stopped in Shizuoka 'cause of the…"

Here she trailed off as she watched Haku's face turn bleak. Again he looked away as a muscle began to jump at the back of his jaw. Her heart sank like a frozen stone deep into the pit of her stomach. Desperate to cheer him up, she slid her hands to his face, urging him to look at her.

"It'll be great to see her, right?" She began in earnest, "Think of how much fun she'll have at the festival?"

He blinked, "Festival?"

Chihiro continued in a rush, trying to win him over with her excitement.

"It's New Years Eve, Haku. The whole town's turning out. Natsumi said the bath house kami are going to perform at the shrine tonight like they did in summer. Jae, and Kenka, and Megumi have never seen the kami dance. They'll have a blast, I know they will. Maybe we can take them out for drinks at the Yamada's after? They make awesome okonomiyaki. Please, Haku? Please come with us?"

Even as she wheedled somewhere deep in her heart she was utterly ashamed. Terrible things were happening and all she wanted was a night out in the village. Chihiro knew was acting like a selfish child again. She was trying to hang back when she knew couldn't stay. Was one more night too much to ask for? One more day, she prayed silently to whoever or whatever was listening. Not just for herself, but for everyone else. Please? Please, just give us one more day?

By way of an answer Haku pulled something out of his pocket. Curiously she craned her neck to see the tiny bit of brass and glass in his hand. As she looked at it all the hair stood up on the back of her neck. It was magic; a really strange magic too. Not in a bad way, just one she hadn't seen before. Chihiro frowned, looking between the compass and Haku. All kinds of somber and intent, he studied the needle. All it did was spin in lazy circles.

"Is it broken?"

"No. It is not broken."

Her brow tightened, "But its not working."

She straightened as he took out the compass and put it in her hands. Fey prickle skittered up the tops of her arms at the contact. Instantly the needle whipped around to point right at Haku. He blinked only to blush as a shy smile pulled at his mouth. Suddenly he was happy, so very happy he lit up like a ray of sun piercing the gloomy clouds. Utterly confused, she stared between him and the compass before pointing toward the mountains.

"Isn't north is that way?"

"This compass does not point north, Chihiro. It shows the way to whatever or whomever you are searching."

"Oh."

A very different type of heat warmed her cheeks as now she understood why he was so happy.

"Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift from Onsen."

As Haku took the compass from her hands, stashing it back inside his coat pocket, she was frowning again.

"Why didn't it work when you were holding it?"

His face fell as he looked off into the distance.

"A spinning needle means the ones I seek are outside this world."

It took her a second to understand. She froze as she realized he was talking about Lin and Kiri.

"An hour or so can mean days, even weeks in this world," Haku continued at a distance, still caught up in whatever it was he was thinking about, "I did not realize until now how much that could be to our advantage. Time is with us Chihiro."

She knew he didn't mean to, but he was being all kinds of mysterious. _God_ -ish, actually; and it reminded her a lot of the way he used to talk. Unfortunately his cryptic explanation bounced right off her forehead. All the same, Chihiro held her breath as flicker of hope returned his eyes. Abruptly, however, he changed the subject.

"I did not know the Yamada's offered okonomiyaki. Jae will be most pleased."

Chihiro blinked, staring past him as she noticed Nastumi. The yuna was clinging to the doorframe pale and stunned. Her eerily enormous eyes were riveted on Haku.

"Master Haku!"

As she spoke his name he was on his feet. Chihiro lurched sideways in his absence only to jolt back against the wall as a violent wind tore along the veranda, dislodging eddying swirled of snow from the bamboo. All the while Natsumi continued to stare at him blank faced and silent. Haku began to shake beneath the unyielding intensity of her gaze. He sat down hard as his knees folded, spilling forward into a bow. His trembling shoulders screamed in despair. Cringing against the boards, wordlessly he begged for forgiveness. Stunned Chihiro's insides went cold as the wind went tearing through her hair. Already she was scrambling to his side anticipating a repeat of what happened with the fox in the kitchen last night. But Natsumi ghosted past like a shadow only to fold up beside Haku gently plucking and pulled at his arms.

"Enough. Oh, enough, Master Haku. You saved us!"

She offered in a comforting hush, cajoling him quietly.

"Do you really think Miss Lin will give up so easily? Then why should you? You will bring her home. I know you will."

Still cringing as he lifted from the boards, Haku's green eyes flew completely wide as the yuna threw her tiny around his neck. Stunned, he went rigid as a board only to melt; crumpling against her as the old yuna hugged and rocked him like a child. As she did she smoothed her hands over his head again and again, clucking in wry admonishment.

"Oh, why did you cut your lovely hair? Now you look like a human and it was so very handsome before."

Hugging her shoulders Chihiro shivered with violent relief. Only to startle as one by one the other kami appeared out of nowhere. Usagi and Yoshi crept out onto the veranda hand in hand. They looked between Haku and Natsumi before blinking at her blankly. One after the other they bowed to her almost automatically. At a loss for what else to do she bobbed and awkward bow in return. Little Green Frog peered around the door frame only to be shoved out of the way. Hiko and Ginka towed Aniyaku out onto the veranda.

"What's all this then?" The bullfrog began irritably.

Aniyaku went white, shying comically to the point of one toe as he saw her. Sputtering loudly he pointed back and forth between her and Haku over and over. Hiko and Ginka shoved by so they could clamber about behind Natsumi. Sweet faced and awed as they gawked at Haku.

"He's back, he's back, he's back!" They sang in hushed unison.

Turning up his nose Aniyaku harrumphed and spun on his toes.

"Yes, yes! Mistress and Master are home! Now let's eat before breakfast gets cold."

Sitting back on her heels Natsumi threw a sour frown after the bullfrog. But the other kami remained as Aniyaku pompously flounced back into the house. They flooded around Haku, nearly knocking Chihiro over. Beaming gladly Yoshi pumped Haku's arm up and down in a vigorous handshake. Seizing his cheeks Usagi planted a wet kiss on Haku's forehead making him turn beet red. Hiko and Ginka all but knocked him over as Usagi drew back leaving him defenseless against more enthusiastic hugging. Poor little Green Frog scrambled back and forth behind the press of bodies trying to get a leg in. Stymied and forlorn, he went cross-eyed before blinking, shrinking onto his heels shaking as he finally noticed her standing over him. His brown eyes went perfectly round as he looked up at her. Little Green Frog swallowed nervously. Just as nervously she fidgeted under his scrutiny. Humans were supposed to look at Gods like that; not the other way around.

"Welcome home, Lady Sen."

He bobbed a bow still staring at her in wonder. All at once he was looking back at Haku with genuine relief.

"We're so glad you're both home."

All the fear cleared from Chihiro's heart at the tiny kami's declaration. It gave her hope, because it seemed kami could forgive after all.

* * *

 **HAKU**

 _"I'm so excited!"_ Satako squealed.

He bent as she pulled on his arm insistently, nearly making him spill his tea. She was much stronger than she looked. His heart squeezed; skipping a beat inside his chest as she beamed at him. She was so very like Chihiro it caused him physical pain.

 _"Whee!"_

As the human reached for her the Chouchin fled, turning red with embarrassment. The lantern had been drifting lazily, making the warm room and rosy with light. Haku marveled as Satako went. Not with her crutches; not wheeling along in her chair. However unsteadily, the little human walked on her own feet. Okesa and Usagi paused in the middle of their music lesson. The cat's eyes flashed with barely restrained glee as she tracked the lantern's flight. Resplendent in her best kimono of birds and mice, the cat picked out a livelier tune as the little human shrieked and chased poor beleaguered Chouchin. Even though the rabbit looked fine in her vivid rose-colored kimono. complete with a grass-pattered gold and silver obi, she still paled before the cat's beauty.

"Like this, neh baby-bunny?"

Furrowing her brow in concentration, Usagi followed the cat's tune with deft fingers. Tossing it back and forth, they narrated the human girl's chase with a weaving soundtrack. Haku was just about to speak up in the light's defense when Minako spoke.

"Satako, please leave that poor thing alone!"

Hastily she apologized to the lantern.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Lantern. Please excuse my daughter's rudeness."

"D-d-don't worry, M-Minako-san. I d-d-don't think C-Chouchin minds."

The human flinched as the lanky frog smiled at her sweetly. Yoshi and Little Green Frog were tightening the skins of two drums: one big, one small. The humming voices of the instruments called and answered like old friends. Haku fought a smile as Chouchin blew an angry raspberry at Yoshi before darting from the room. As Satako chased the room darkened ever so slightly. Outside the sun had already begun to fade. Winter days were short and already the veil of night approached. Oblivious to the child's antics, Aniyaku paced about engrossed in practicing a formal greeting. Satako nearly careened into him as she returned. Minako uttered a terrified squeak, reaching as if she could redirect her daughter. Ever nimble on his feet, Aniyaku side stepped around the human girl not even noticing her.

 _"Good evening, esteemed visitors!"_ He boomed gregariously.

Minako jumped, scrambling to catch her teetering tea cup. The brittle woman still looked faint.

"Sounds good to me," Little Green Frog chimed in encouragingly.

"No, no!" the frog muttered peevishly, "It's still not right at all."

Hastily he tucked up against the table to revise again with ink on parchment. Again Minako uttered a terrified squeak as Satako peered over his shoulder curiously. But the frog waved her away, muttering grand words under his breath. Panting from her exertions, Satako happily collapsed beside her mother. Shivers of foil danced against the bob of her ebony hair. Here Satako frowned sharply as the wig tilted. Her hands flew to her head as if fearing it might fly off.

"Mom!" She hushed in mortification, "It's coming off again!"

Minako made a disapproving moue, fussing with the wig.

"It's not coming off, dear, you just need to stop jumping and running around. You'll make your hair ornaments fall out."

Here the human woman paused, lighting up with an enraptured smile.

"Oh, you look so lovely. I wish I remember to bring my camera."

Thanks to the work of Natsumi, Hiko, and Ginka, the little human was dressed in dazzling greens, oranges, and reds. Her kimono was stamped with silver snow capped pine and bamboo, wound round with a wide obi of plum blossoms heavily embroidered in gold. Healthy bright reds peeked at every hem, making her flushed cheeks all the rosier. Onsen had produced amazing treasures in response to the news of the festival. Coffers materialized all along the walls in the kami wing, spilling out silk kimono, obi, haori, and every manner of accessory. Yuna ran amuck through the rain of riches, falling on Satako and nearly carrying her off in their glee. Haku could not help but smile. Politely he hid a smirk behind his hand lest Minako see it. How had Satako reassured her mother? What had she called it? Dress up.

Jae, Megumi, and Kenka would not cook. A festival feast awaited them and tonight they would eat out. New Years was one of the most festive occasions of the year. As such it required appropriate attire. He and the kami had the luxury of appearing in any state or shape they saw fit. However, after the yuna saw to Satako they dragged the other humans away to be dressed. Haku glanced toward the hall, tapping his fingers on the table top as he found himself impatiently waiting to see the results of their work.

He hoped they would not dress Chihiro in blue. Blue reminded him far too much of the ocean. And he did not wish to be reminded of that.

"Nigihayami-san?" Minako began hesitantly, obviously trying to make polite conversation, "Have you and Satako known each other long?"

Haku glanced toward her and bowed ever so slightly.

"We met this past summer when you first came to Kumomi, Minako-san."

"Oh? You two seem so close," She tried to smile.

He glanced at the girl and found her frowning in frustration as she tried unsuccessfully to peer up at her hair ornaments. She succeeded in only tilting her head from side to side making the bits of foil quake and tremble. Unsuccessfully he fought a smile as again the sight warmed his heart.

"She reminds me a great deal of Chihiro as a child."

Minako blinked rapidly before laughing that off nervously.

"But sure you can't be that old, Nigihayami-san? You don't look more than 20."

Haku glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Looks can be deceiving, Minako-san."

He flashed a winning smile as she quieted and went pale. Before he realized it Haku was standing as footsteps sounded in the hall. Again Minako squeaked as the wind of his exhilaration blew through the room.

" _Dude!_ " Kenka laughed in delight, "I _seriously_ feel straight outta a Kabuki play!"

"I know, man!" Jae returned in equal excitement, "Who knew these pants thingies were so damn comfy! Gotta get me a pair."

Haku frowned sharply as only the males rounded the corner. Jae wore an charcoal-gray kimono beneath silver and black striped hakema whereas Kenka had donned a buttery-yellow kimono with black and gold striped hakema. Together they moved like night and day; midnight and noon. But they ruined the regality of their attire with clowning, pantomiming slicing and cutting motions with their empty hands as they made ridiculous noises and grimacing faces. He brought them up short with his abrupt appearance.

"Where is Chihiro?"

He inquired impatiently, peering behind them only to be disappointed. Jae recovered quickly, looking him up and down.

"Whoa! Looking seriously spiffy, Kou."

Kenka, however, was still gaping at him. Haku was not sure why. Looking down, he reviewed his ruse. The kimono was a vibrant sky blue; his hakama brocaded in gold and silver swirling clouds. It was more than adequate by his taste. Here Kenka stammered lamely

"Girl's always take longer to get ready than boys."

Haku looked over his shoulder as shamisen strings screeched. Okesa melted to her feet leaving Usagi playing by herself. It took the rabbit a moment to realize was playing solo. Red faced with embarrassment the rabbit cut short before Yoshi encouraged her to keep going. As the rabbit continued to play Okesa minced across the tatami, glittering and tinkling with every step. Haku did not resist as she insinuated herself under his arm, looking Kenka and Jae up and down like they were something to eat. The human gawked at her dumbstruck surprise. Grinning broadly, she flowed forward and seized Kenka and Jae, towing them back toward the table. They followed her without a word.

"Y'two look like y'know how t'have fun? Wanna start t'party while we wait? Neh, Onsen? Bring me some sake!"

"I would not advise that," Haku counseled the ceiling.

But even as he turned the human's already help sake cups. The wretched cat was even pouring a small saucer for Minako! The woman was absolutely bleached of color as she accepted it. The beguiling cat winked at her as she poured for herself.

"'Ere y'go, mommie. Drink up,neh? _Kampai!_ "

As she knocked back Okesa summoned the kami with the lure of sake.

"C'mon, baby bunny! C'mon froggies! Can't drink water all t'time! _Kampai!_ "

Haku cringed at the cheer as the Gods answered her call.

"Can I have some too?" Satako chimed in hopefully.

"You may not!" Haku commanded resolutely.

As the girl pouted he rounded on the cat. She was standing on her knees a perfect picture of grace as she poured for Aniyaku.

"No beguiling, Okesa!"

She slyly refused to meet his gaze as she poured for Jae and Kenka.

"Wot? S'just a New Year's toast."

As Haku opened his mouth to argue she glanced up. Her poignant red gaze flashed like a chilling draft from under the shivering play of gold and silver bird wings against her velvet black hair. Her suffering expression was a stab of cold in his heart. It revealed all the grief she so desperately fought to hide in the merriment she effortlessly inspired. The world narrowed to just them. When she spoke next he knew her words were only for him. Her voice rasped ever so slightly, reminding him painfully of the moment he had almost lost her to poison.

"Lighten up, kitten. Life's too short."

He stared at her in wordless shock she offered him a black lacquered saucer. It was so very small in her beautiful hands. The inside was a wet flash of red in the flickering candle light. Such a small thing, but she offered it to him as if it mean everything. What could he do but accept? Some of it spilled on his fingers as he accepted the cup. The cat's shout cracked like thunder in his ears.

 _"Kampai!"_

He knocked back the cup. The metallic burn of the sake flowed down his throat. It lit a fire in his stomach even as he struggled not to cough. It was then that he heard the foot steps shuffling behind him. Jae swore explosively as he sat up on his knees point.

"Holy _shit_ , Meg! _You're a girl!"_

Whirling on another wind Haku came face to face with Megumi.

"Watch your language, Jae. There're children present!"

"Where!?" He shot back hotly.

Kenka pointed as Satako as she leaned over the table and waved at him.

"Oh," Jae bobbed his head in apology at Minako, "Sorry, mom."

She waved him off absently, not at all bothered as she hastily downing another saucer full of sake. Megumi scowled as the males continued to stare, obviously uncomfortable in her brilliant teal furisode. It bloomed at the bottom edge in a spray of purple and lavender irises that echoed the swirling silver stream patterned obi. She had freed the fall of her dark hair from its tight bun leaving it long and sleek.

"You look beautiful, Megumi-san."

As Haku bowed she went red in the face and flustered.

"Hah! Look at her blush," Jae cackled, "You're such a girl!"

Megumi stomped her foot, making Haku jump.

 _"Shut up, Jae!"_

Haku took a preemptive step back as Michio rudely shoved past Megumi. Not surprisingly Michio had found a midnight black kimono. A sallow moon rose on the wide panel of her cream colored obi, illuminating the dim shadows of the weeping willow branches pouring down the trailing sleeves like water. Viridian green burst forth in shocks of color from the hem and cuffs. It matched the equally shocking fringe of her chemical dyed hair.

"Alright," she crowed, "I'm sick of haunted houses! Who wants to find that bar?"

Haku forgot Michio entirely as something moved behind her. Chihiro hung back from the other females. Chouchin drifted over her head. Again the world narrowed to naught but her. Bathed from above, Chihiro's silk garment caught fire in the obake's light. Crimson, scarlet, and orange flashed and flickered as they lifted from her swinging sleeve. Haku almost panicked as her kimono seemed to burst into flames. But it was only the trickery of the carefully placed licking tongues of silver and gold that danced across the fabric in curling patterns of spirals. The only thing that seemed to restrain them was the shimmering copper-gold obi. Geometric interlocking patterns braided across the tight plane of stiff fabric as it wound round her waist. Nubbly white crested at its top, peeking again at the collar like thin lines of smoke. Shyly Chihiro glanced up at him from beneath the silver fringe of her hair as it stirred in his wind. Stupidly he stared back with impolite directness. He could not help himself. Was it his mind playing tricks? Haku swore he felt the heat of her presence as she approached. He was afraid to touch lest he be burned. But already he burned. Such feelings stoked deep in his heart. They were more than enough to set him on fire.

Haku startled as the throaty buzz of Natsumi's biwa broke the silence. Suddenly the yuna faded into being against the veranda sliders. Wearing her sweetly smiling mask, the yuna struck the strings again. All the Gods looked up at the call of her music. As Natsumi paced with measured steps around the perimeter of the room two more shadows pulled free of her steps. Wearing equally enigmatic masked smiles, Hiko and Ginka bloomed like pink and yellow flowers, twining round each other as their symbols sprouted eerie chimes. Yoshi and Little Green Frog answered with the rhythm of drums, disappearing beneath the comical grimaces of their wooden masks. Ducking under the wall-eyed stare of her rabbit mask Usagi added the crisp twang of the shamisen as even Aniyaku drew on his clown's face, dancing and capering as he clapped his hands in percussive bursts.

And the humans could do nothing but look in awe as the Gods circled the room. Shadows danced across the walls in response to the measured masked march. Magic crackled and sang through Haku's blood as he watched the ghostly parade. Song vibrated in his bones as his wind quickened. He longed to join them, but doubt held him back. Was he God enough to dance among them? Did he dare? If he did, after all that had happened, would they welcome him? Despair weight on him as he could summon no answer. Then Okesa danced him round in a tight circle.

Her red eyes were filled with glee as they flashed behind her cat's mask. As she passed he realized there were fans in his hands. Red and gold; silver and red; bells rang sweetly as he flicked them open. Such relief surged in his chest at the sound. Adding the music of his motions to the chorus Haku drew on his dragon's mask. And the wind of his joy nearly lifted him from his feet. He danced; danced with the Gods; danced with his family. Down the hall they paraded; through the back door. Overhead Chouchin lit the way, dancing and wheeling as she glowed red. Across the threshold of magic; stepping between worlds if only for a moment. Out they danced; one voice and yet at the same time so many. Out into the snowy dusk of the gardens behind Kumomi-jinja.

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) Bozu is referring to the Battle of Ueno (July 4, 1868) one of the pivotal clashes of the Boshin War fought in what would eventually become Ueno Park. The Boshin War was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court. The Boshin War was ignited by the Meiji Restoration, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868. –Wikipedia

(2) Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon'in is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 by Tenkai. The main object of worship is Yakushirurikō Nyorai. Because it was one of the two Tokugawa bodaiji (funeral templeand because it was destroyed in the closing days of the war that put an end to the Tokugawa shogunate, its name is inextricably linked to the Tokugawa shoguns. –Wikipedia

(3) Bozu is a Hitotsume-kozō (Hiregana - ひとつめこぞう; kanji -一つ目小僧), which roughly translates to one-eyed youngster. Read more about this types of yokai at the Obakemono Project.

(4) Over time some kami converted to Buddhism, hence the Temple Kami. There is precedence for this in Japanese folk literature, where oni are often shown as guardians at Buddhist temples. Most kami remained Shinto purists, hence the Shrine Kami. Shrine Kami saw the Temple Kami as impure and blamed them for the pollutions causing evil in the caverns. Temple Kami saw the Shrine Kami as impure because of their arrogance and many vices. As a result they went to war with one another. The Cavern Wars are what caused the great Kanto Quake of 1923 **.** When the Gods broke the Wheel of Yamanote they caused the collapse of several caverns.

There is a parallel here to Japanese history. The Shogun (Shinto) clashes with the Buddhists just as later the Imperial Court (Shinto) clashes with the Shogun (Buddhists). "Oda Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they armed themselves and did not obey him. The Enryaku-ji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its sōhei (warrior monks) of the Tendai school who aided the anti-Nobunaga group by helping Azai-Asakura alliance, was a particular thorn in Nobunaga's side, residing as it did so close to his residence in Kyoto. Nobunaga attacked Enryaku-ji and burnt it to the ground in 1571, even though it had been admired as a significant cultural symbol at the time, and killed between 3,000 and 4,000 men, women and children in the process. Enryaku-ji's current structures date from the late 16th century through the first half of the 17th century, when the temple was reconstructed following a change of government." – Wikipedia.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHIHIRO**

"Pinch me!" Chihiro breathed.

As her breath blew from her lips in a cold crisp cloud Michio complied. She pinched her hard right through the thick silk of her sleeve.

 _"Ow!"_ She flinched only to smile shakily, "T-thanks."

Michio was frowning at her like she was an idiot.

"Should I be worried?"

Chihiro flashed another wan smile, looking overhead at the flickering lights. Beyond them she could see the fat yellow moon hanging in the frozen sky. Closing her eyes she could still smell the bitter tang of butane fires. Charred chicken on skewers; yakisoba; takoyaki. She could almost delicious taste the delicious fried matsuri foods. Even more distant was taste the heavy weight of the salt air. If she listened hard enough she could hear the ocean. Holding her breath she shivered as a frigid breeze blew through her. In a gust she let it loose, whispering as she did.

"Sometimes I worry this isn't real. Sometimes I'm scared I'm still dreaming."

"Pinch me too," Jae muttered hoarsely.

"Pinch yourself, asshole!" Michio bit back.

Jae ignored her, sounding utterly perplexed.

"How t'fuck is that even possible?"

"Seriously," Kenka breathed in agreement.

"If I didn't know you I'd having a hard time believing all this too."

Megumi sounded just as amazed.

"Trust me," Chihiro hushed in excitement, ""It only gets better."

Opening her eyes, she looked back over the courtyard as music swelled. Standing on the steps leading to the shrine gardens Chihiro could see everything. People were streaming through the front gates, waiting in line to pray at the haiden (1) where Keiichi was presiding. All the sliders and curtains had been drawn back in the building. She could see inside without any trouble. The young priest was chanting while waving a paper-festooned wand over the kneeling crowd. Staffing the omikuji station, wearing a white kimono and red hakema, was Naniko. Further inside the shrine grounds was one of the secondary buildings where the stage had been erected. In the courtyard beneath the bare canopy of the trees and strings of buzzing lights was a wall of bodies.

Everyone from town was here; Goro and Ikeda from the police station; Dr. Yanagi from the hospital. Her heart squeezed as she caught sight of Satako and Kai. In spite of the freezing temperatures they were eating frozen chocolate covered bananas as Minako paid the vendor with a pink cheeked smile. Their ecstatic faces floated in and out of view in a sea of faces Chihiro didn't recognize. She blinked, catching sight of strange kami walking among the humans wearing their shadows like cloaks. Some of their masks looked familiar. But she wasn't surprised to see them. Instead she looked for Amano but couldn't find him. All kinds of conflicting emotions churned inside her chest as she continued to look. Because she didn't like that he was missing. Even though she understood why he might not want to come, she didn't like that he wasn't there. His absence was too much of a reminder that others were missing.

Last time she stood here Hidé and Mrs. Nikkou was still alive. Last time she stood here Lin was with her. Suzume's flute was painfully absent from the God music. Even though she knew they weren't gone she still felt their absence keenly. So much had changed sine she'd found her way home. How much would it change when she left? Turning aside the dark thoughts, she followed the thousands of eyes to the fellows swimming through the pooling flood lights.

Yoshi and Little Green Frog were doing their comic routine.

Hiko and Ginka narrated on the big and little drums.

The pair tumbled back and forth like gravity didn't apply to them.

They were arguing over an invisible sake bottle.

One would drop it only to have the other tumble to catch it.

Little Green ended up on Yoshi's shoulders only to somersault.

Just as quickly they righted in reverse.

Yoshi ended up standing on Little Green's shoulders.

Little Green's knees trembled violently before they gave out.

The crowd roared with laughter as Yoshi landed hard.

Up catapulted Little Green, flying into the air as Yoshi hit the supple boards.

The crowds gasped as Yoshi scrambled.

Running back and forth the lanky frog positioned himself to catch his friend.

Only to trip and fall flat on his face.

Little Green landed right in the middle of his back.

As he did Yoshi emitted an enormous _Ribbet!_

Chihiro shrieked with glee as laughter erupted from the crowd.

In a panic Little Green rolled his friend onto his back.

Fanning him hurriedly Little Green dumped the sake into his mouth.

Revived and victorious, Yoshi sprang to his feet triumphantly.

Realizing what he'd done, Little Green tried to drink from the bottle.

But it was empty; better yet, it wasn't even there.

It didn't matter; they frog convinced her otherwise.

Yoshi patted his friend on the head as Little Green mopped in defeat.

Then Yoshi produced another imaginary sake bottle.

Pouring two glasses the frogs toasted as friends.

Suddenly they were conspiring chummily, pointing at the humans.

Abruptly turning to the crowd they tossed the contents at the front row.

The people there shrieked and cringed with laughter.

They laughed even harder realizing they'd been tricked and there was no sake.

The frog laughed out loud, pointing and slapping their knees.

Almost solemnly they straightened and bowed.

Then they were gone, disappearing into a twist of shadows.

Applause erupted from the crowd.

It vibrated deep in Chihiro's chest.

Glancing back she found Michio and Megumi clapping vigorously.

 _"Wooo!"_ Kenka called through his cupped hands.

 _"Awesome!"_ Jae hooted, _"_ Frogs Brothers are _awesome!"_

Here the crowd fell silent as Natsumi and Usagi began a plucky measured tune. A titter of surprise went through the humans a Aniyaku danced in jaunty measured steps out into the light from behind a beam that was far to thin to hide his round bulk. Holding his fan out in front of him Aniyaku bowed and bowed. Then he boomed.

 _"Thank you, esteemed guests!"_

The bullfrog's genial voice thundered thru the courtyard without need of speakers.

"Thank you so much for your appreciation!"

His eyes danced behind the oculars as his clown mask grinned.

"What next, esteemed guests? How shall we entertain you?"

"Okesa!" Someone in the crowd called loudly, "We want Okesa!"

Here Aniyaku wilted.

"That old thing? Bah! Surely you'd rather I entertain you?"

Suddenly he straightened, spinning his fan on the tip of his finger.

Yoshi and Little Green frog were suddenly back at their drums.

The provided the dramatic sound as Aniyaku tossed the fan high over his head.

Hiko and Ginka clashed their symbols he caught it on his other fingertip.

Spinning like a top it winked gold and silver.

Still spinning, Aniyaku bowed as the crowd cheered.

Then the fan wasn't there.

Chihiro jumped as it disappeared in a flash.

Aniyaki blinked and blinked as he opened and closed his hand comically.

Looking on the ground he looked every which way.

He even lifted his feet, put his hands on his hips at a loss.

Then Usagi struck up the shamisen as Natsumi's biwa buzzed low and sultry.

Such a wild scream went up from the crowd as Cinna traipsed across the stage.

Gods she was gorgeous; all kinds of mysterious behind her black cat mask.

Spinning a red umbrella on her shoulder, the cat exuded sex and charisma.

The crowd hooted and whistled as she glanced out at them with a wave.

Aniyaku scrambled out of her way as she paused just past him.

Here the cat opened flicked open a fan only to reveal it was Aniyaku's.

 _Ba-boom_ went the drums as the shamisen and biwa laughed.

With a startled cry he pointed at it, capering from foot to foot.

Trotting by, he plucked it from her fingers.

Holding it up in triumph, he wiped the sweat from his brow.

 _Ba-boom_ went the drums!

As he went to fan himself with it he realized it was gone from his hand.

Looking back at Cinna the cat was fanning herself again.

As she laughed soundlessly the shamisen twanged and chortled.

Running in place as if to gather steam Aniyaku darted by snatching it up again.

He skidded to a halt on the opposite side of the stage as his hands turned up empty.

 _Ba-boom_ when the drums! Again the shamisen tittered in glee.

Pushing up his long sleeves and tilting his cap, Aniyaku ran in place vigorously.

His feet blurred as he made it known he meant business.

Chihiro cheered him on as he took off at a sprint.

Dipping her umbrella down, Cinna hid them from view just at the point of impact.

But as it whirled back up Aniyaku was gone.

The crowd gasped as the bullfrog disappeared.

Chihiro gasped as well, finding her hands at her mouth.

Folding her umbrella, Cinna sat it down.

Glanced from side to side, she shaded her view, obviously looking for the frog.

Suddenly her umbrella jolted.

Cinna looked down at it with sharp interest before gazing out over the crowd.

In a graceful pantomime he pointed at the umbrella as again it jolted and rustled.

Picking it up, she opened it and shook it vigorously.

Aniyaku landed hard on the ground.

 _Ba-boom_ went the drums!

Miming a startle, Cinna whirled aside dropping the umbrella.

This Aniyaku caught as he flicked open the fan, exultantly wafting himself. Leaping up, the frog ran from the stage with umbrella and fan. And the crowd screamed with laugher along side the shamisen and biwa. Chihiro whooped and yelled as well. Forgetting herself in the noise, forgetting everything she turned herself over the pure fun. Here Cinna tossed her head and turned up her nose. Silence fell as she turned her back to the crowd. Cymbals _tinged_ and _tanged,_ mysteriously calling back and forth across the stage as Hiko and Ginka moved in the dark periphery.

 _Tat-ta tat-a tat-a,_ called the high tenor of Little Green's drum.

 _Ba-boom,_ answered the bass return of Yoshi's drum.

Anticipation built as slowly Cinna glanced over one of her shoulders. He hair ornaments flashed beneath the lights as just as slowly she glanced over her other shoulder. Whirling on he balls of her feet so quickly she blurred Cinna faced the audience and with another toss of her head she stomped the ground hard.

A thrill surged up Chihiro's spine as the stage echoed like a drum.

In the same moment the cat threw out her hands.

Chihiro jumped as bells shattered in the silence.

Red, gold; silver, red; her fans flashed.

Ringing and ringing, they sang as she stomped again.

Then she threw on high in the air.

It winked like a shooting star as it arched through the air only to fall.

Silver and gold flashed as its flight abruptly redirected up from the ground.

Chihiro's heart surged into her throat a wind gusted off the stage.

Even though there was snow on the ground it was soaked with the scent of rain.

And then he was there, resolving out of the shadows as if he'd always been there.

His dragon mask reflected like mother-of-pearl in the lights.

His silver-gold hakama billowing as if the swirling cloud patterns had come to life.

 _"Jesus fucking Christ!"_ Jae swore explosively, "Is that Kou!?"

Suddenly the Biwa began, low and lilting, swift and smooth.

Chihiro sucked in a breath as suddenly he was spinning on the very tips of his toes only to sink deep into a suddenly curve. Her heart lurched inside her chest as he flowed backwards, never ceasing to move, sweeping back up to his feet as he waved and swooped the fan Cinna loaned him. Rocking forward onto her toes, compelled to move just by watching him, Chihiro craned her neck to see over Kenka's shoulder as Haku melted through every movement as made of wind, not flesh or bone. Nothing human could move like that. Wind rippled around him, billowing the curtains and making the trees creak and sway as suddenly Haku lapsed to stillness.

Chihiro realized she was holding her breath, because

She let it out in a gust left feeling lightheaded and giddy.

Gods, he was so, so very… _beautiful!_

He was so beautiful this couldn't be real!

Suddenly the shamisen answered; crisp and lively, sharp and playful.

Cinna produced another fan and the pair became wings in her hands as she transformed into a bird through her movements, gliding across the floor light as a feather. It took Chihiro a second to realize the cat was teasing Haku! She was mimicking him to poke fun at his dancing! But now she sank low on her feet as if anchoring herself into the ground. And she owned the crowd as she flirted around the gold and silver edges of her fans, sashaying her hips, dropping her creamy shoulders and tossing her head side to side again and again so that her hair ornament sparkled in the light.

Again she stomped her foot as the shamisen silenced.

Tossing her head one more time, Cinna blew a kiss at Haku.

He staggered away feigning as if it had hit him in the face.

At once he was fanning himself vigorously.

In that same moment the biwa returned.

Haku caught himself on the edge of the cascading pouring torrent of strumming strings, whirling as if he couldn't stand to keep his feet on the ground. All of a sudden the biwa shifted up an octave, mimicking the plucky sound of a shamisen. Here Haku dropped like a stone only to stomp just as Cinna had. Then he sank into the sauciest, sexiest repetition of her dance. Seductively tossing his shoulders and hips, he glance with smoldering eyes from across the sharp edge of his fan, tossing his head from side to side in a perfect mimic of Cinna's flirtatious moves. Chihiro was howling by this time. He could've been a woman for all she knew and that completely blew Chihiro's mind.

The biwa silenced but Haku wasn't done yet.

He tossed his hip at the cat.

The move hit her physically all the way across the stage.

She stumbled like he'd bumped into her.

Glaring at him she came up short at Haku's final sensuous shimmy.

The crowd screamed as he flashed the barest glance of his bare shoulder.

 _"What! What!?"_ Kenka shrieked in glee.

" _Ha!_ He totally got her!" Jae crowed, "One point for Kou, man!"

"Oh, my, God!" Michio covered her eyes, "This is so _gay_!"

"Shut up, Michio!" Megumi glared at her nastily.

Stunned, Cinna gaped at him incredulously.

Finally recovering, she turned up her nose dusted off her sleeves.

As she turned her back on Haku she produced a fourth fan.

This she tossed backwards over her shoulder.

It sailed right into his hands like some kinda crazy reverse footage trick.

Holding it up triumphantly Haku bowed with liquid grace as the crowd applauded and cheered. Ignoring him now, Cinna minced her way up to the edge of the stage. She put a fan to her ear she appealed to them for encouragement. At their screams of enthusiasm she feigned a swoon. But all at once the cat wheeled into a sinuous spin, completely bending over backwards so that her head nearly brushed the ground yet her feet remained on the ground. Wearing an ecstatic expression she righted, Cinna threw out her hands in an unmistakable challenge.

Haku answered, mirroring her motions.

As they faced off against each other, their demeanor completely changed.

The air charged with their focus.

Grace transformed them into something supernatural as they dance.

Circling and circling, abruptly they switched directions.

Here the shamisen and the biwa answered in unison.

Only to break apart into a call and answer duet.

Haku and Cinna began their own call and repeat. One would dance, the other would mimic. Faster and faster, with every step perfectly matched and repeated. Until all at once they were dancing a duet. As Cinna's fan flashed so did Haku's. Up they flew, curving out before fluttering back and forth. As Cinna bent over backwards in another sweeping arch Haku followed, bowing backwards beside her bonelessly limber. As he turned so did she; so swift the tips of their toes barely touched the ground. Her hair ornaments flashed like lightening above the billowing clouds at Haku's feet. Whirling and whirling, backs pressed together, they wafted their fans high and low.

Red. Gold. Silver. Red.

Like a spinning top they blurred, jumping high.

The stage trembled with a resounding _boom_ as they stomped in unison!

Bells rang clamorously in the silence.

The lights overhead flickered as Chihiro jerked in surprise.

Then they were gone. Gone. Just gone!

The roar that lifted off the crowd that echoed in Chihiro's chest.

All the while the crowd whooped and cheered.

Chihiro jumped again as Michio yanked and hauled on her arm.

"Where did they go!? Where _t'hell_ did they go!?"

Megumi grabbed her other arm, bearing down on her with a freakily intense glare.

"Tell me they practiced this like a _billon_ times!"

"N-no," she stammered, "I d-don't think they've ever done this before."

 _"Dude!"_ Kenka hushed in astonishment.

"Magic, man!" Jae laughed explosively, "These guys are fuckin' _made_ of it!"

Aniyaku was back at the front of the stage again.

 _"Thank you, esteemed guests!"_

Here the spell broke as her friends started to bicker.

"I'm _freezing_ my ass off!" Michio complained, "Can we go somewhere else? I really, really just want to be boring and go do normal things for one night."

"And miss all _this_!?" Kenka was looking at her like she was stupid.

"Let's go get something t'drink. That'll warm y'right up."

Jae jabbed his thumb toward the vending stalls.

"Fine… Just so long as it's a beer."

" _Ha!_ Looks like you an' me 're gonna get along after all, sweetheart!"

For some reason Michio didn't punch him as he draped his arm over her shoulder. With a long suffering sigh Megumi seized Kenka's arm and followed behind them. As they started off down the stairs Chihiro was about to follow. Then she caught a flash of blue light on the dark hills behind the shrine complex. Turning her back to the humming electric lights she squinted into the frozen dark outside the reach of the festival lights and shivering convulsively.

Slowly her eyes adjusted.

Then a familiar lantern bobbed out from behind the inky trunk of a pine.

The eerie pale blue of its light threw fantastic shadows up the sloping path.

But the transparent figure that held the lead cast no shadow.

She had no feet, fading away into nothing in the piles snow.

God light glinted off the pale sparrow mask as the apparition looked back.

Chihiro rang like a bell as she recognized the ghost.

Stunned and still ringing with shock, she took a shuddering breath.

It blew up in front of her face in a plume of white.

"You coming, Chihiro?"

She jumped again as Megumi called after her. Looking back she found the woman using Kenka's arm like a blanket. The kimono were made of heavy silk but not _that_ heavy. She was shivering visibly. Glancing over her head, Kenka's face went slack with fear as he stared at the slope.

"T-tell me I'm not the only one who see's _that_!"

As he pointed a trembling finger Megumi gasped.

She jittered into Kenka gritting her teeth.

"It's okay. She's a friend."

Chihiro lifted her hands reassuringly.

Kenka glanced at her before his eyes shot back to the hill.

"If you say so."

"Go have fun. I made reservations for one of the party rooms at the Yamada's. They'll give it away if you don't get there soon," Chihiro waved them along, "It's fine. Really. I'll catch up with you later."

Nervously he began backing away pulling Megumi with him.

"You sure?"

She flashed them a smile she desperately hoped looked real enough.

Megumi shrank from the ghost on the hill, choking on her words.

The poor thing looked like her knees were about to give out.

"H-how can you be so _calm_ about all _this_!?"

Chihiro glanced at her, trying to remember what it was like to be new to _this_.

It wasn't that long ago. Still, it felt like ages and ages had passed.

"It gets easier with time."

Megumi didn't look like she believed her.

They fled down the stairs, heading into the crowd.

Turning her back on the living Chihiro made for the trees and chased the dead.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Haku craned his neck, standing on his toes.

He scanned the crowds thronging the streets of Kumomi, searching for Chihiro. The tiny town was drowning in strangers.

He hardly recognized anyone!

What was worse, he and Okesa had been forced to discard their finery. dressed now in their mundane garments they were all but invisible. Done with dancing, they left the bath house kami to their performance. They had not been in the crowd but a moment before the enthusiastic humans descended upon them with praise. Although Okesa gleamed radiantly in their attention Haku abhorred the press of hands and bodies that clambered around him anxious to shake his hand or ask his name. He had been forced to disappear again, much to the delight of the humans. Reluctantly Okesa followed. Sullenly the cat skulked behind him in tight torn jeans and a cowl necked sweater so baggy it nearly swallowed her whole. Black on black, the hue of her clothing matched her sour mood.

Again she sighed gustily.

"Aye wuz so pretty, Kitten! Why'dja make me change?!"

"You are always beautiful, Okesa."

Without hesitation he murmured the truth of his thoughts, distracted while still searching for their humans. Haku was just about to reach into his pocket for the compass when she all but tackled him from behind. throwing up his arms in surprise he turned to frown at her quizzically. But she remained anchored around his middle with her face buried in his canvas jacket.

"Y'mean it? Even now?"

As her voice rasped she spared a hand to pull the cowl neck high under her chin.

She had taken to wearing it and he knew why.

The scars from the spider bites cover most of her neck.

He bore similar marks himself.

Extricating himself from her grip he turned to kneel at her bare feet, tipping up her chin as she flattened her velvet black ears and refused to look at him. Smoothing a hand over her hair he earned a worried glance that he returned with a gentle smile.

"Even now, Okesa. Even more so with every day."

Haku laughed outright as she launched into his arms, nearly knocking him over with her enthusiasm much like she had earlier. As he scooped her up, slinging her onto his shoulder, he carried her like a bag of rice as the cat's good humor returned full force.

"Aye's starving'! Neh, neh! Aye wan' some takoyaki, 'n' some taiyaki, 'n' some toriyaki, 'n' some..."

She trailed off, ears swiveling wildly as someone called his name distantly.

"Kou!"

Haku spun in a circle as Okesa yanked him around with a flick of her fan.

The bells rang in his ears as she directed his attention skyward.

Down the street he caught sight of the town's only restaurant.

Hanging over the rail of the second story balcony waving vigorously was Jae.

Kenka was struggling to keep him from pitching over.

" _Ha!_ S'that t'Yamada's place?" Okesa laughed in anticipation, "They's my kinda humans, neh?"

Haku snorted in amusement. Yes; Jae and Kenka were very much her kind of human. Here he frowned. There was a crowd outside of the Yamada's, spilling out of the interior in a boisterous press of bodies. He did not think he could stomach pushing his way through the close interior. He shook out his umbrella, pulling it from nowhere. Already the cat was scrambling in his grip.

 _"Nae, nae, nae!"_ She hissed in dismay, "Aye cun walk!"

Although he was forced to drop her the cat landed on her feet, sprinting away before glaring back at him with all her hair standing on end. He laughed openly as she skulked into the crowd heading for the restaurant. Floating on light-hearted steps Haku slipped into the adjacent alley and let himself fade into the shadows of his tatter cloak lest anyone see him. Shaking it out, he lifted the umbrella over his head. Haku propelled it upward with a single breath.

Up he sailed, weightless as a flake of snow!

His heart thrilled into his throat as he shot over the roof. Elated by the speed and the wind, his blood sang with happiness as he lifted into the muted silence of the indigo sky. The veiling mists of the frozen clouds parted around him to reveal the sea of stars. A fat yellow moon waxed close enough for him to touch. For a moment he drifted high, catching sight of the whole town. Rivers of light poured between the buildings, illuminating the hillsides and spilling into the harbor. Laughter and distant music ebbed in muted tides beneath his feet. The sight of the world so small and far beneath his feet brought his insides to stillness.

Slowly he began to sink. Shivering violently as the frigid breeze cut through his thin skin, Haku gently directed his lazy flight path with puffs of air blown between his pursed lips. He drifted down beside the Yamada's to the right of the balcony over which the humans dangled. Inside was a simple small tatami matted room with a low table complete with an inset electric grill ringed by a tall fence of brown Asahi bottles. An enormous savory pancake was sizzling on the plate. Haku's stomach gave a violent growl as the delicious smell floated out at him. Under the buzzing electric lights inside his friend lounged and relaxed on thick cushions. Through the thin walls Haku could hear the laughter and off-tune singing from the adjacent room. A similar disturbance filtered up from the teeming first floor.

The whole building seemed to shake with glee.

Though his feet touched down on the balcony rail his heart remained buoyant.

Dropping his ruse, Haku materialized just beside Kenka and Jae.

The males recoiled with a gasp, spilling back into the private tatami room.

Megumi released a girlish squeal completely at odds with her character.

Michio choked on a mouthful of whatever beverage she was consuming.

Hurriedly patting her on the back Kenka went milk pale.

Haku was both pleased with their reaction but surprised by his odd mood.

He never flaunted himself.

Teasing the humans was actually quite entertaining.

 _"Jesus fucking Christ, man!"_ Jae all but shrieked as he clutched his chest panting with fright, "Use t'fuckin' door! You're not Mary _fuckin'_ Poppins!"

Stepping down from the rail he folded the umbrella and closed the window.

"I do not know this Mary you speak of."

" _Goddamnit!_ New rule!" Michio choked as she pushed Kenka's hands away, "No _funny_ stuff when we're out, got it stalker-boy?!"

Still feeling weightless and therefore untouchable by the human's rude words Haku alighted on one of the cushions at the low table.

"I shall refrain from anything too humorous, Michio-San."

She sputtered as his subtle repartee robbed her of words.

Megumi took a drink, looking sideways as her eyes betrayed a smile.

Kenka and Jae, however, laughed explosively.

The males were already red faced with drink.

"Dude!? Was that sarcasm?"

"No way, man. Kou doesn't have a sense of humor, remember?"

Bowing with utmost formality, Haku had to bite his lip to keep from grinning.

"It is as you say. I am a humorless being."

Grinning like idiots, the males returned his bow only to break against each other snickering and chortling. Megumi sighed gustily as Michio pounded her fist on the table, making the empty bottled jitter and clink.

"Knock it off, you assholes!"

"You commanded no funny stuff, sweetheart. Thought y'wanted us t'be serious ?"

Haku did not miss the angry frown that pulled at Megumi's lips as Jae draped his arm around Michio's shoulder smirking rakishly. Pink with fury the green haired human shrugged out from under his arm and shoved him away, busying herself with flipping the pancakes. Jae spilled some of his drink as he knocked sideways into Kenka laughing giddily. Haku frowned as he found someone missing.

"where is Chihiro?"

Kenka replied in distraction as he poured a glass of beer. Haku frowned as he found the human's hands were shaking as he offered the drink.

"She had something to do at the shrine. She said she'd see us soon."

Here, however, the male went terribly serious.

"Seriously, dude, how the _hell_ d'you do that?!"

Haku accepted the glass, sipping it politely.

The fizzy beverage was bitter and cold.

All too quickly it sent a flash of heat from the pit of his stomach to his cheeks.

"I am unsure of what you mean," Haku returned evasively.

Kenka threw his hands at the window as awe paled his face.

"I thought you said you couldn't fly?!"

"He's made of magic, man! S'explanation enough for me."

Jae slouched backwards onto the mat as he knocked back his glass.

"Jae, I cannot fly..." Haku insisted lamely as he flustered nervously.

"Then what do you call that?" Megumi was pointing at the window.

It was the first she had spoken since he had arrived. As Kenka and Megumi looked at him expectantly Haku gritted his teeth and searched for how to explain. As earlier in the kitchen words eluded him. As he faced burned Haku finished his drink and fumbled inside his coat. Removing the umbrella he held it out to her mutely. She stared at it askance as if not sure what to make of it.

"That's it?!" Michio laughed derisively, "A moldy old _umbrella_ can't be magic!"

She glared back as Haku stared at her coldly look across the table.

For some reason he had no trouble finding words for this one.

"As with all things among Kami, Michio-San, appearances can be deceiving."

Her brow tightened as she grappled unhappily with that truth.

"Open it," Kenka encouraged Megumi hushed with anticipation.

Still uncertain, the female opened the umbrella over her head. Again she uttered a mousy squeak of surprise as she floated off the floor. Gasps flew from the humans as they jolted back from the table. Megumi, however, drifted right up to the ceiling like a bit of dandelion fluff.

 _"DUDE!"_ Kenka exclaimed in delight.

 _"Holy fuckin' shit!"_

Jae scuttled backwards across the floor like a crab.

 _"Get me down!"_ Megumi shrilled in an absolute panic, _"I want down now!"_

Even though her feet were only a few feet from the ground she clung to the umbrella handle as if her life depended on it. At once on his feet Haku gently towed her back to the ground, steadying her as he carefully eased her shaking fingers free of the grip. As she stared at him dumbfounded Jae forsook his drink and snatched the umbrella out of Haku's hand.

"My turn!"

"No way, dude! I'm next!"

As Kenka grappled with Jae both males floated off the floor with gleeful squeals as they opened the umbrella, clinging together to the haft. Haku pulled Megumi out of the way as they drifted across the room in a lazy spin, tucking up their knees to keep their feet from dragging on the floor. Haku beamed as he watched them play. It was so good to see them embrace magic rather than cringe in fear. Their joy at the simple pleasure of weightlessness was infectious. He had to bite his knuckle to keep from laughing out loud.

 _"This is so fuckin' cool!"_ Jae chortled exuberantly.

"Michio!" Kenka propelled them back into the air as they drifted back toward the ground, "Michio, you've got to try this!"

The female, however, would have none of their play.

She was plastered against the far wall shaking from head to toe.

Haku's heart sank as at first he mistook her disquiet for fear.

But then he realized it was barely restrained fury.

Baffled, Haku could only stare.

"Fuck you!"Michio hissed between her teeth, "Fuck that _stupid_ umbrella, too!"

Ripping the sliding door open the female human nearly knocked Okesa over as she stormed off. The cat scrambled to rebalance the massive tray she carried, defying both gravity and grace as she righted the sake bottles and cups, scooping them up midair. Glaring after the human Okesa flattened her ears and lashed her tail. Closing the slider with her foot the cat came in and slid her tray onto the massive table, unperturbed by the floating humans as she jerked her thumb at the hall.

"Wot's 'er problem, neh!?"

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) The honden ( 本殿) also called shinden (神殿?) is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue. The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. In front of its usually stands the **haiden** , or oratory. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden, or hall of offerings.


	7. Chapter 7

**HAKU**

Haku was about to follow Michio when Megumi caught his arm.

"Let her go."

Glancing back he found the female's gray eyes sharp with shrewd thoughts.

It was obvious that she had seen something he had not.

Frowning desolately, Haku wished he shared Megumi insight.

Michio's response was utterly baffling.

How was it such a simple play could inspire such hatred!?

"Yeah, man. She's being a stick in the mud anyway. _Whoa!_ "

Loosing his grip, Jae dropped to the ground and sprawled out on the tatami. Kenka whooped loudly as he shot up to bump the rafters. Looking between them curiously, Okesa traipsed over only to use the human as a pillow as she poured him a saucer of sake.

"Neh, neh? Drink wit me, neh Jae-Jae?"

This he accepted without pause, downing it before frowning up at Okesa.

He tugged on the hem of her sweater as if disappointed.

"Where'd your pretty kimono go, kitty-kitty?"

Okesa blinked as her brow furrowed. Jae gasped, sitting up in surprise as she changed before his eyes. In a blink the cat was draped across his legs wearing the soft sumptuous black and red silk kimono from earlier. Gold and silver foil birds danced in her piled hair as she shook her head, gazing at him coyly as she poured him another saucer of sake.

 _"Dude!"_ Kenka hushed as shock sank him down onto the tatami beside them.

Okesa relieved him of the umbrella in exchange for a cup, charming him into her power with the tiny beguiling movements of her body. Every reach of her hand, drop of her shoulder, and tilt of her head dripped with flirtations. The humans were powerless to resist her persuasion.

"Drink wit us, Kenka!"

Kenka did not argue as she laughed shamelessly and poured him sake.

" _Kampai!"_

Haku cringed in pity at their cheer.

The males would regret this come morning.

"Can you do that too?"

Haku blinked rapidly as he looked back at Megumi.

He shrank as her intense gaze raked over him.

"P-pardon?"

"Can you change like she does?"

Again discomfort forced him to show rather than tell.

Megumi jolted much like Jae had as Haku pulled a ruse into place. At once he was dressed as he had been on stage. Blue and gold reflected off the drab beige walls as the fantastic textiles caught the buzzing electric light. The female's eyes nearly swallowed her face they went so very wide. She shrank a step, making the long blooming sleeves of her teal kimono swing and sway. Megumi, however, did not flee as Michio had. Encouraged by that Haku offered his sleeve, holding out the brilliant cloud patterned silk. Gingerly she reached out and touched the fabric with shaking hand. Her face cleared with awe as she rubbed the sleek substance between her fingers. But her eyes turned accusing once more as they lifted back to his.

"And the dancing? Was that magic too?"

Her quiet inquisition caught him off guard.

It shocked him into answering.

"N-no…"

Dissent glittered in her frigid glare.

"I don't believe you."

Haku wilted in exasperation.

"You have seen me dance before, Megumi-san."

She crossed her arms as her face darkened obstinately.

"Show me again. Prove to me it's not just a trick."

Goaded by the way she continued to speak to him as if he was a peasant to be commanded, the wind of Haku's indignation blew through the room. She thought his performance false! The fact that she believed him to be such a liar set Haku's blood boiling. Dance belonged to the Gods. It was one of the few things left to him from the being he had chosen to forsake.

He would answer her insolent demand.

He would show her truth.

He would show her how kami danced.

Again Megumi jumped as he stomped his foot, clambering back. The impact rattled the room as he ghosted backwards weightlessly sinking onto his toes. In the same movement fluidly he drew one hand his face to call up his mask. The other he flourished over his head. Haku froze there for a bated moment, holding his fingers poised as his sleeves swung pleasingly, sending flashes of gold and silver across the drab walls. Striking out, he unfurled Okesa's fans in a crisp snicks. They appeared out of nowhere in his hands.

No longer caring whether or not the human was watching, Haku's blood sang with elation as the bells rang in his chest like a peel of sunshine. Floating on the sound, hardly feeling the touch of the kiss of ground for he moved so lightly, he cut the fans through the air in an undulating motion, letting them become the waves of the sea. Strange that the ocean should inspire him now; but distantly it soaked him through. He could taste the salt on his lips. He could feel the kiss of the frigid wind on his skin. Making music with ever move, he rocked the center of his body, ebbed and receding like the fickle tide, until he drew and gathered back into a whirling twirl.

Then he sprang high like a breaking wave flashing blue and silver.

Leaping from the ground, only to crash on the imagines shore.

Gliding forward as the wind beneath his heels let him drift uncannily.

As he flowed to stillness the same wind broke over Megumi, making her hair billow. She shrank from him as a human might flee the hissing foam of a breaking wave. As he stood over her triumph surged in his heart; because she was looking at him the way a mortal might see a God: with complete and utter awe.

Megumi was trembling from head to toe.

But as with Michio it was not with fear.

Jealousy glittered in the female's pale eyes. Her lips drew into a grim line as she tossed a hand over her shoulder as if directing him toward the location of her past. She chewed on every word as if they cost her great shame, spitting them angrily under her breath.

"Everything you said in the studio was right. I'm mechanical. Perfect technical skill but no emotion. No feeling. My brother used to call me the _wind- up ballerina_.

A self-derisive sneer eroded her tight lipped primness.

It left her red nosed and with the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"I've studied my whole life at the best studios in the world! I've had the best teachers! And still I can't get it right! I don't know what I'm doing wrong!"

Here envy flooded her face as she looked up at him.

Gone was all the accusation and doubt she turned on him before.

"But you... I've never seen _anything_ like you... You're everything I could hope to be and so much more! I don't understand how you can be real!"

Haku shrank from her vehemence, struck dumb by her pronouncement. Never in a thousand years did he expect such a compliment from Megumi. But in this moment, as he stared at her open face, he felt as if he was seeing Megumi for the first time. Not as what she put herself forward to the world, but the person she hid behind her judgments and haughty assumptions. Looking at her now was like looking at himself. He found in her a shadow of the dragon he had been. They were the same: lonely and lost yet drowned by their own pride.

Haku jerked, yanked from his thoughts as she seized his sleeve.

All that was left in her now was desperate hungry wanting.

He knew that look far too well.

She bent beneath its weight.

"Show me how to dance like that! _Please?!_ "

It was the first time she had asked him for anything.

Not commanded, or order, but sincerely entreated his help.

Haku pushed up his mask letting it fade with the rest of his ruse.

Silently he studied the hope flickering in her eyes.

He knew not even where to start or even if such a thing was possible.

But for her sake he would try.

Coming to stand beside her, Haku settled his weight forward onto his toes, swiveling slightly as he centered himself there perfectly balanced. Heat climbed into his cheeks as Megumi studied him with intense focus, immediately imitating his form. Though she was an image of grace poised in her teal kimono, already she was failing. She had not centered herself, but not due to lack of skill. He could see the fear in her. She kept glancing at him sideways, verifying again and again that she held herself correctly. As a result she lost track and became unbalanced.

Such an effort was folly. She could not find center by copying him. She needed to look inward, not outward at him. But as Haku straightened, frowning as he pulled at the fringe of his hair trying to think of what to say, anger and frustration flared in her face. Before he could reassure her Megumi broke form throwing up her hands in despair.

"See!? I'm hopeless!"

"Megumi-san…" Haku began gently but she cut him off.

" _Save it!_ I'm an idiot for still trying!"

She snapped furiously as she stormed for the door.

Megumi was not listening anymore.

Haku realized then that she had never been listening.

For some reason she refused to hear him, giving up without trying.

Whatever he chose to say would be useless.

Better then that he show her.

Haku flicked his fan, making the bell ring commandingly.

The sound swung her around.

Her face drained of color as she returned to her place beside him

Smooth and fluid, her hands followed his to the ready position.

One high and one low; elegantly poised like the sun and earth.

With another flick of the fan he guided her to center.

Together in perfect unison they floated forward on the tips of their toes.

Only to wheel in a circle, gliding and ghosting on a wind of his making.

It rustled their clothing as they floated back to their origin.

She began to fight as the shock wore off, turning her head toward him.

With a flick of his fan he directed her gaze forward.

"Do not look at me," he instructed quietly, "I am not here."

Sinking lower over his heels Haku used the bell to force her to focus inward.

"Remember the umbrella, Megumi-san. It is as your feet left the floor."

Haku placed a hand on his lower stomach.

"Search for the sensation of weightless and hold it here."

She blinked rapidly as her hand followed his motion to rest on her obi. As she nodded shakily Haku broke form and stepped backwards so she could not see him. He studied her from behind; watching her perch on the edge of balance. Folding his hand he slowly withdrew his hold, leaving her teetering there.

"Lift your hands." He instructed gently.

She complied, gracefully lifting her fingers into a perfect replica of his motions. This time she did so without help, sinking low over her toes as she wheeled round. In a testament to her true ability Megumi floated through the movements he had shown her, performing beautifully by human standards.

"Good! Very good, Megumi-san!"

Haku found himself smiling until Jae swore beneath his breath.

" _Jesus fuckin' Christ!"_

He had completely forgotten about the males! Haku spun on his toes only to find Jae and Kenka were staring at him much like Megumi. They were looking at him the way a mortal might see a God: with complete and utter awe. Earlier he wanted this; wanted to prove to Megumi that he was no liar. But now Haku flustered in embarrassment under their scrutiny as heat flooded his face. He shrank into the wind of his disquiet as Megumi seized his arm and wheeled him around.

"W-what did you do to me!?"

Throwing up his hands in supplication Haku made the bell on his fan ring.

"It is only as you requested," he returned quickly, "I showed you how."

 _"Show us next!"_

Kenka was on his feet, hauling Jae upright as they scrambled over to take up position where Megumi once stood. With a heavy sigh Okesa forsook her sake bottle to scoop the pancakes from griddle to plate, daintily holding back her sumptuous sleeves.

 _"Tch!_ Why y'gotta spoil my fun, kitten? We wuz drink' 'n' now we's _dancin'!_ "

 _"Ha!"_ Jae laughed as he hung on Kenka to keep from falling over, grinning back at the cat, "That's t'great thing 'bout parties, kitty-kitty! We can do both at the same time!"

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

She slipped in the snow, catching a branch to keep from falling.

The stacked zori were not meant for mountain climbing.

Neither was her gorgeous kimono.

Breathing hard thanks to the climb, Chihiro made slow progress. At least she was warm now. Well, warm _er_. As she carefully picking her way through the dense trees she tried not to get it caught on anything. Would Onsen be pissed if she got mud on it? Chihiro fervently hoped not. The pitch black forest around her was completely quiet save for the crunch of snow under her feet. The silence was super creepy, making her feel like all kinds of things were watching her. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the ebb and hiss of the ocean. That freaked her out even more.

Glancing ahead she could see the trees thinning.

Suddenly light gathered over her head, pale and warm.

Looking up Chihiro gaped at Chouchin as she drifted high; illuminating an enormous stone torii gate loomed over the path. Chihiro hadn't even seen it! Slowly the true moon emerged from behind cloud as Chihiro nervously crept out from under the stone archway. A clearing opened around her as the filtered light of the lantern slowly seeped through the trees. It caught on the pluming cloud of her breath, settling like snow on the score of stone monuments previously hidden by the dark. It took her a moment to recognize the grave markers. She gritted her teeth as more and more resolved out of the dark around her.

Great. Just great.

Of course she'd stumble right into the middle of a graveyard.

What a great way to spend New Year's Eve!

Chihiro shrank with a gasp as something moved in the periphery of her vision. A cold sweat froze on her upper lip as her heart surged into her throat, throbbing in her ears. Whirling toward it, she struggled to see through the dark as again the shadow glided by. Chouchin thumped right into the side of her head quivering in terror. Chihiro caught the obake in her arms, holding it close as her skin crawled.

The ghost looked over its shoulder.

It wore a sad mask of white that reminded Chihiro of a Noh play.

It beckoned before pouring like smoke between the ancient standing stones, disappearing further into the cemetery. Dancing from foot to foot uncomfortably, Chihiro hesitated as her knees shook. Kami were one thing; but ghosts were something else entirely! But something was different about this specter. It obviously wanted to show her something. Curiosity burned in her frozen blood. Breathing a shaky breath, finally she released Chouchin and forced herself to follow. Sidling down the hill, Chihiro peered ahead into the dark as she caught sight of a blue light.

But it wasn't periwinkle orb.

This floated and bobbed like an otherworldly moon.

There was no mistaking the fox fire.

Chihiro watch as beneath the single orb of flickering fire Suzume bowed over his hands in silent prayer. Looking like a ghost himself, the fox was dressed in a plain white kimono and hakema. His ragged ebony hair hung in an uneven mess around his face. He kneeled on a mat in front of a massive family complex of grave markers. It had been swept clean. Offerings of sasaki leaves, rice, and sake were placed in front of a brand new stone marker stood out against the weathered pillars.

Again Chihiro startled at movement in the peripheries of the dark.

Staring from the corners of her eyes she froze as the world came to a standstill.

The foxfire stopped flickering.

The smoke from the incensed froze.

Chouchin locked into place midair.

Eerie silence fell over the clearing until all she could hear was her furiously hammering heart. Dark seemed to bleed from every corner of the courtyard. It pooled around her like water, bring with it a bitter, bitter cold. Slowly, as if soaking up all the shadows in the clearing, the ghosts appeared. The taller held tightly to the hand of the little ghost in the sparrow's mask. Forlornly the child watched Suzume as if all she wanted was to join him.

Slowly the big ghost reached up and removed her mask.

Chihiro held her breath.

She'd seen a photo of Manami.

That was the only reason she recognized the ghost.

As if she's just climbed out of the bay her long black hair flowed down her shoulders wet and plastered to her body. She faded away into nothing just about at the knee. As Chihiro's heart throbbed in her ears she gritted her teeth again a bone-rattling shiver. Because Amano's dead wife was looking right at her with clouded white eyes. Under any other circumstance Chihiro would've ran right back to the shrine. But the ghost wore an expression of sadness that displaced any fear her appearance inspired. At once Chihiro was babbling, trying to say something that would help.

"I'll take care of him, okay? Please don't worry."

That didn't help. If anything Manami looked even more troubled as her clouded gaze slide sideways to focus on her instead. Chihiro's chest tightened with apprehension as premonition hung over her head like the ominous shadows pooling at the ghost's feet. Manami looked like she wanted to say something. Her lips moved, but Chihiro couldn't hear. Taking a step closer she strained her ears. But still; there was only the sound of her furiously beating heart.

"I… I can't hear you, Manami!"

The ghost bowed her head in despair as she faded taking Reika with her.

Chihiro utter a squeak as abruptly sound and movement flooded around her.

The fox fire overhead guttered loudly, making the shadows dance.

"Child," Suzume growled, "Have you not spied upon me enough today?"

Stammering wordlessly, she pointed a trembling finger at nothing.

The ghosts were gone.

All the same Suzume cocked his head to the side.

"So we have had a _visitation_."

He muttered the word irritably as if terribly annoyed.

With his back still to her Suzume explained quietly.

"They cannot stay in this world after tonight. Manami seems to think hiding Reika from me will make this parting easier. It will not."

His voice gentled as he spoke the old woman's name.

"The boundaries between the worlds are thinnest at winter and summer solstice. Unfortunately that means they will not be able to return again for some time."

With tender care the fox sat up on his knees to touch the newest stone memorial.

Here he grew wistful, talking to himself now.

"I look forward to dancing with them at Obon."

Chihiro stared at him as worry soaked her through with cold. But before she could come over and sit down beside him again the fox fire guttered. Chouchin shrank with a sparking hiss, darting to hide behind Chihiro's back. Sinking back onto his heels Suzume tightened his hands into fists against his knees. They were still black, stained with the marks he'd earned when he tried to lift Sengen's curse. Suzume was sad when he spoke next; really, _really_ sad.

"I know Reika brought you here to comfort me. Do not think me ungrateful, child. But I… I am so _very_ lost at the moment! I would rather be alone than be unkind to you."

Chihiro hesitated.

This was the closest thing to an apology that she'd ever get from the fox.

Chihiro would've ignored his request.

Chihiro would've gone over and sat down next to the fox.

Chihiro also regularly pissed Suzume off.

But Sen knew better.

Chouchin followed uncertainly as Chihiro turned and left the clearing. Clumsily she picked her way through the trees in the lantern's dim light, walking right into every mud puddle, tripping sticks, and low hanging branch. She hardly saw them, too caught up in the mess of thoughts inside her head. Even though Suzume had asked her to go depression weighed on her like a physical burden.

And she couldn't _not_ think about Lin and Kiri.

Not knowing what to do was just as bad as not knowing what had.

Even worse was the terrible thought that there might not be anyone to look for.

Tears pricked her eyes as laughter, music, and light filtered through the trees. It rolled in waves off of the shrine grounds as she clambered down the hillside. But she hardly heard or saw it now. Earlier she'd been all kinds of excited about coming into town. Now all she wanted was to get out of her constricting obi, have a bath, and then fall into a pile of futons. She thought about going to find the others to tell them she was going home. But Haku'd probably insist on coming home with her. He looked like he was having such a great time with Cinna.

She didn't want to ruin his fun or anyone else's.

She wanted them to have a normal evening for once.

Well… As _normal_ a night as possible for them.

Who knows when they'd get another chance?

Utterly exhausted, Chihiro turned her back on the festival and made for the front door to the shrine residence. The lantern followed in her shadow like a dog, bumping into the back of her head as she sighed heavily. The bath tile was still hanging from a nail tacked into the slider's frame. It snapped to the door like a magnet as she pulled it open. Blissfully silent the dark kitchen yawned ahead of her. A shiver of magic crawled across her skin as she crossed the threshold. Shutting the back door on the gleeful sounds of the festival Chihiro shuffled across the kitchen heading for the bath wing. But as she pushed through the split curtain she came up short as dim light filtered down the hall from the great room. Peering through a crack in the doors she found the yokai seated at the massive table that ran the length of the room.

A sea of shells was strewn across the table.

They gleamed in the candle light like bits of ivory.

Bozu scratched his tonsured pate, searching the table with deep concentration.

Flipping two of the shells over, he revealed the painting inside.

One was of an oni mask. The other showed a smiling woman.

 _"Bah!"_ The goblin sank back on his heels in defeat.

Abruptly one of the shells flipped back over without him touching.

Another further down the table flipped over revealing another smiling woman.

It was a matched pair and the shells jumped.

Bozu scowled with his single eye as they joined the growing pile opposite him.

Clutching his tiny fist he hit the table top.

"Stupid house is cheating!"

As the house creaked and snapped indignantly she withdrew with a grin. Regardless of what Cinna thought of the goblin, Chihiro was glad.

It looked like Onsen had found some company.

As if repelled by the moisture Chouchin drifted away Chihiro trudged into the bath wing. Flicking on the lights in the woman's changing area and carefully extricated herself from the gorgeous kimono. Naked and shivering, she scooted over to the storage closet where the yukata were kept. As she opened the cabinet she blinked. Haku's thickly padded green kimono neatly folded on the top of the pile. It was completely out of odds with the rest of the indigo fabric. A lick of heat kindled in her cheeks as she remembered they'd left it on the floor last night. Onsen must have cleaned it and put it away with the others. Remembering how soft it was she shook it out only to pause as something fell from the folds.

It bounced off the floor only to roll.

She startled from the bright flash of the mirror.

It circled, clattering softly as it tipped over on the tiles.

Chihiro stared at it trying to breathe as her heart thundered up into her ears.

She'd forgotten all about it.

She shoved her arms into the green kimono, distantly noting it smelled like spicy smoke. Chihiro hastily tied it around her waist, hoisting the extra length so she could scoot over and kneel beside the circle of silver. It had come to rest polished side down. On its back was an ornate raised relief of two twining dragons. Their twisting coils became a motif of waves. The inset blue stones of their eyes glittered ominously, almost watching her.

Her insides scrambled as uncertainty ran rampant in her head. Not knowing completely trampled her resolve. It left her shaking with dread. It drove her to pick up the mirror up. The metal was so unbelievably cold it burned. Her hands shook as she remembered the way Keiichi handled the thing. The thing obviously scared the hell out of him. One look; that's all it would take; just enough to see Lin. That's all she wanted. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

As she turned over the smooth side Chihiro stared at her reflection.

She blinked in disappointment as nothing happened.

Then a blinding flash hit her eyes like sharp shards of shattered glass.

Chihiro recoiled with a scream. Her feet left the ground as she fell backwards. She screamed again as she continued to fall, plunging through open air at a dizzying speed until she smashed through the surface of the ocean. Stunned by the shock, the salty and frigid water sucked her down, pulling her under. She struggled, thrashing as the pressure crushed in on her. Opening her mouth to scream the water invaded, stinging inside her nose, filling her lungs with heaving fire.

All the while the light remained inside her eyes, angrily twisting, digging deeper and deeper into her head; until it exploded into a flood of shapes, smells, and unimaginable impressions so intensely vivid it felt like her head was going to burst open under the pressure from the searing burning seething pain. But before her head could pop like a bubble; before the crushing weight of the water could swallow her whole; the ocean rolled her sideways into a churning spin only to smash her back against the sandy bottom.

Coughing and gagging, Chihiro sat up out the surf as the waves hissed back

The angry tide dragged at her legs, trying to pull her back under.

But frozen arms held her.

Anchoring her in the frothy liminal edge where the ocean met the shore.

His hoarse worried whisper tickled against her neck like effervescent spray.

"Okay, this's got t'be t' _stupidest_ thing I've seen you do yet!"

Hauling in breath after breath, she sagged in Hidé's arms.

Looking out of the water she stared at the hidden harbor by the old village.

A bow of stars hung in the indigo sky over the distant snow capped walls of stone.

They blurred as she screwed her eyes shut against the burn of salt.

"I… I just wanted to know if Lin and Kiri're still alive!"

Hidé didn't scold her.

She was exceedingly grateful for that.

All the same, he paused uncertainly.

He whispered beneath his breath like he didn't want to know.

She could barely hear him over the dull distant roar of waves.

"What did you see?"

It was kinda funny that he didn't know already.

Strange actually, but in the worst kind of way.

It reminded Chihiro that even Gods didn't know everything.

And that scared her so much she didn't know what to do!

Rocking forward clutching her head, she cringed from the surf as it surged around her waist. It was so very cold; so very, very cold! She kept waiting to wake up. Because this was too terrible to real! But she didn't wake up. She was already wide awake and trapped by the hellish nightmare Sengen had shown her. Because Chihiro hadn't just seen what was happening now. The goddess had only been only too happy to show her glimpse of what was going to happen in the future. But it was a mess inside her head, jumbled and tangled forward and backwards like a snarl of string. Chihiro tried to escape the pull of the waves, struggling in Hidé's unyielding grip she recoiled from the visions, trying not to see all over again what she'd seen. Because she had seen, terrible, _terrible_ things! She didn't want to admit how much she understood. Not yet!

"Can I change what I saw!?"

Chihiro choked on the words as her throat closed under the vice of terror.

As Hidé hesitated her hands tightened on his arm and gave a vicious shake.

" _Can I change it!?"_

"S-sure you can, boss," He murmured at a loss, just as bewildered as before, "Fate's not set in stone like t'stories make it out t'be."

Thankfully he didn't ask her again to tell him what she'd seen.

Again Chihiro slumped in his grip.

She tried not to cringe as another wave rolled by, lapping under her chin.

Furiously she hissed through her chattering teeth to keep from sobbing.

"Why does she _hate_ me so much!?"

Here Hidé's arms tightened around her middle almost possessively.

"She doesn't hate you, Boss. She's afraid of you."

Chihiro blinked and blinked and blinked some more.

"Why?"

Hidé sighed gustily, kicking up a swift breeze that send the waves foaming.

"A God renounced himself so he could be with you, Chihiro. It pisses her off because it scares t'crap outta her. She doesn't get why anyone would want to be human."

Before Chihiro mull that over Hidé stood. He pulled her upright as the white capped waves lift and break around them. Before she could turn he slipped something over her head. Something hard and small knocked against Haku's scale. Chihiro jolted as the bell in her heart rang resoundingly inside her ears. Staring down at her gaping kimono Chihiro blinked the glittering blue jewel. She'd worn it once before during the summer matsuri. It was one of the three treasures of the Kumomi Shrine; the second was the mirror she'd stolen from Keiichi, and the third was the sword Hidé put in her hand.

She stared even more stupidly at the short sheathed blade.

Like the silver mirror it burned beneath her fingers.

Like the mirror, twin dragons twined around its hilt.

Their sapphire eyes glared at her suspiciously.

Just holding it made her skin crawl!

As she tried to give it back Hidé insisted, covering her hands with his.

"I won't let her hurt you but I can't promise I can do t'same for what's beyond t'sea an' that seriously _scares t'shit_ outta me!"

She looked up as his voice cracked, nearly drowning all over again in the desperate expression in his endless blue eyes. Just as abruptly she looked away as her heart squeezed up into her throat. Even though he was all kinds of Godish he still managed to look human.

Fear was the great equalizer.

No one was immune, not even kami.

He put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her in the beating waves.

They burned against her skin, just as cold as the sword clutched in her hands.

"I can't come with you so at least take these. They're mine now, not my mom's. They're my gift t'you. Use them t'even things out as much as you can."

Chihiro's hear thrilled up into her throat as he leaned in close.

The response was so automatic it was shocking.

Screwing her eyes shut, she struggled to swallow the stab of pain in her throat.

All kinds of difficult things swam uncomfortable circles in her chest.

Because she thought she was past all this; apparently not entirely.

Shame burned her cheeks.

Her knees shook as he planted a simple kiss on her forehead.

His frozen lips whispered against her skin as he lingered for a moment.

"Stay close to t'ocean, Chihiro. I'll be looking for you."

Then a wave stuck her from behind.

She uttered a truncated shriek as it heaved her up off her feet, rushing up over her head in a gurgling bubbling cacophony that swept her forward. Buoyant and tumbling in circles, again her back hit the bottom. But this time it wasn't sand. The hard floorboards knocked against her head so soundly she saw lightning in the burbling dark. Like a stunned bit of flotsam she was left at the water's mercy. But the wave's strength was ebbing. It dwindled, depositing her on the ground and pulling at her feebly as it trickled by. Distantly she could hear it dribbling somewhere below her head.

Drip, drip, drip.

The floor vibrated beneath her back as swift footsteps jolted the boards.

Water splashed her face, making her jolt as hands seized her.

She stared up into Suzume's stricken face only to cough up a mouthful of salt water. He rolled her on her side, pounding on her back as she continued to retch, not helping at all, actually. She was forced to drop the mirror and the sword to bat at his hands, trying to get him to stop. As they clattered loudly the fox recoiled with a gasp. Finally able to breathe again, she flopped over onto her back and glared at him furiously.

He was plastered against the ruined ribs of the paper sliders.

Soaked through, his spider silk hair was a tangled mess.

With open loathing he stared askance at the jewel around her neck.

Growing more and more appalled, his eyes flashed to the sword then the mirror.

As they darted back to her it was obvious he'd figured things out.

"Child!" Suzume's choked in dismay, "What have you done!?"


	8. Chapter 8

**HAKU**

Grinning broadly from sheer enjoyment Haku flashed his fans.

Back and forth; high and low; side to side; front to back. The tinkling bells rang in joyful accompaniment, towing Kenka and Jae along with their song. Dancing lightly from one foot to the other Haku bobbed and wheeled between them, spinning the humans rounds and round only to usher them back and forth across his path. Faster and faster he drove them until they were breathing hard with exertion. The males, howver, did not seem to mind in the slightest.

Kenka gawked at him in wonderment each time Haku passed.

"Dude! How're you doing this!?"

Haku was enjoying himself too much to answer. It was a rare joy to be able reveal himself thus; to dance with his friends as nothing more or less than himself.

"It's the fans, isn't it?"

Haku glanced back at Megumi only to find her studying him vigilantly. He couldn't help but notice her toe tapping in rhythm with the bells. As once self conscious he broke his song, lapsing to stillness. Dizzy and exhausted, Kenka and Jae collapsed onto the floor at Haku's feet laughing uproariously.

"That was so _fuckin'_ cool!" Jae cackled gleefully, _"I love magic!"_

"Yeh's smart fer ah human, neh kiddo."

Megumi flashed the cat a sour glance.

Okesa was still pouting into her sake cup.

"S'not just t'fan, kiddo; s'how y'weild 'em, neh?"

Haku flinced as Okesa flicked open one of her fans. Obviously surprised, the female began to dance against her will as the cat waved her along in traipsing mincing steps at odds with Megumi's character.

"Stop it!" She stammered, flushing with mortification, "I said stop!

Stunned by the cat's audacity Haku cut the air with his fan.

Megumi teetered, falling to a rude seat as she scrambled away from the cat.

"Okesa!" Haku reproached, "Not without permission!"

"Wot?" She sniffed, turning aside evasively as she absently batted at one of her hair ornaments, "S'important fer 'em t'know s'not all fun an' games."

The light hearted humor that once filled the room went cold a strained silence fell.

Faces tight with confusion the males looked back and forth between he and the cat.

"What's she talking about?" Kenka began hesitantly.

Haku avoided the question, kneeling beside Megumi wordlessly offering his hand.

She refused his help, climbing back her feet to glare at the cat.

"Make me dance again," the female commanded hotly.

He placed a cautioning hand on the human's shoulder.

"Megumi, that is not wise…"

She shrugged out from under his hand and stamped her foot challengingly.

"Did you hear me, cat!? I said make me dance!"

"So we's playin' now, huh, kiddo? S'fine wit' me."

Haku cringed as she spoke, at once gritting his teeth as he looked to the cat.

Okesa's back was toward them.

The tip of her tail flicked back and forth under her kimono hem.

"Okesa…" He began a placation he was not allowed to finish.

Haku cringed from the sound of bells as they struck him physically.

The sound was like a punch to the gut.

Swatted backwards, the wind momentarily knocked out of him as he toppled to a rude seat between Jae and Kenka. Coughing and gasping, Haku could only watch in dismay as Okesa rose in a smooth flowing motion wearing an irritated moue. Her hair ornaments glittered and shivered as the cat flicked her fans, sashaying from side to side as if bored with all this. At once Megumi lurched about in the cat's command, red faced with fury as she turned her back and presented her rear only to slap it suggestively, straightening to gyrate her hips in unflattering comical motions.

Jae shrieked with laughter as he pointed and clapped.

At odds with his response, Kenka hid a grin behind his hands.

Both male flinched in fear as Okesa stamped her foot.

Her smoldering red eyes reflected like mirrors as she stared at them coldly.

"Y'think tha's funny, neh?"

With a gasp Megumi spun on her heel and stumbled for the balcony.

Jae and Kenka shrank in confusion as the female yanked open the slider.

The sounds of the street and the raucous party below flooded inside as a wind hit the room. Cold flooded around him in its wake, blowing right through Haku. Megumi uttered a shrill shriek and she threw herself against the railing. The sound propelled him off the floor and to her side. But as he pulled her back she ripped from his grip, spinning around to sprint back into the room as the slider slammed behind them. Again Megumi shrieked as at the low table she lunged for the griddle only to pause with her hands poised over the hot surface. Okesa flourished her fans sending Megumi reeling backwards into Haku arms only to pluck Jae and Kenka from the floor. White faced with shock, the males marched forward as the cat beckoned.

"Dancin's nae all fer fun, kittens. Dancin's _power!_ Dancin's t'language o' t'Gods 'n' wit' i'we cun make y'do _anythin'_ aye wan'. 'Member tha' kittens."

They cringed as she traipsed back and forth between them with a wicked grin.

" _Tch!_ Lighten up, neh!? Aye's just havin' fun 'n' razzin' yeh's!"

Unfortunately neither Jae nor Kenka appeared to be having fun.

Looking on in dismay Haku scolded the female beneath his breath.

"Are you satisfied, Megumi-san? Oh, why did you goad her so!"

Staring askance at the cat she was breathing hard with sweat beaded on her brow.

"I wanted to see what she could do…"

Still, undaunted her jaw set firmly as the female tightened hands on his arm.

Her pale eyes narrowed with calculating calm

"How do we get her back?"

He blinked and blinked some more.

 _"We!?"_ Haku returned in an indignant hiss, " _You_ started this!"

At once Megumi was glaring up at him furiously.

"You brought us into this, Nigihayami. Now we have to learn the rules," Megumi bit back between her breath, "Now show me what to do so I can teach those idiots!"

He flinched as her words cut him deeply.

She was right; he had brought them into this.

And it was his responsibility to show them how to protect themselves.

Oh, this was not at all how he expected to spend his evening!

Watching Okesa dance circles round the males his insides tightened with apprehension. In anticipation of the thorough trouncing that was about to come, Haku heaved a heavy sigh and lifted the female to her feet.

"I should warn you, Megumi-san; Okesa is a far better dancer than I."

Her ground pale eyes flashed back at him.

Megumi was gritting her teeth again.

"I really wish you hadn't told me that!"

She blinked as he closed her fingers around a bell.

Secreting one of his fans into her hand Haku tried his best to explain.

"She will own you by forcing you to submit to her movements. Do not fight. That is useless. The only way to resist is to change the dance. You must take back the rhythm and make it your own."

Megumi nodded as she straightened her kimono.

Already she was sinking onto her heels in anticipation.

Taking his place beside her, Haku slowly folded open his second fan.

Their bells rang as they skipped forward, stomping again and again in perfect unison as Haku trampled Okesa's rhythm, obliterating it as they slid to silence. Jae and Kenka crumbled to their knees as the cat staggered to stillness. Spinning on her heel with her tail bristling out in surprise she stared them up and down with wide dilated eyes. In response she produced her second fan, whirling them like tops on the tips of her fingers before snatching them from the air in a clamorous clanging peal.

" _Tch!_ Soy'wanna play too, neh kitten?"

Grinning broadly, she revealed sharp yellow teeth as her eyes tightened to slits. Kicking the trailing hem of her kimono back, the cat sank into a low stance.

The length of her pale creamy leg peaked as her bare foot slid forward.

The cat ground her toes into the floor if bracing to propel herself forward.

Haku leapt aside on the crest of a gale, evading as she struck out at him. With lightning quick steps he crossed his feet back and forth circling with Megumi following in his wake like a shadow. Point and counter-point their fans flashed, ringing in a brisk one-two rhythm that redirected the cat, pulling her along. But already Megumi was weighing him down. Haku clenched his jaw as already he could feel the female resisting. It became obvious that she knew not how to follow. Willfully she tried to dominate their pace rather than build its harmony.

Lithely Okesa spun, turning to face them only to change directions.

At once Megumi was exposed by her unwillingness to join his rhythm.

Haku was yanked off balance, pulled to stillness as the cat ensnared the human.

Okesa plucked the female right from his control!

In a sweeping spin the cat yanked one of the human's feet from the floor with a sweeping flourish of one fan even as she flicked the other forward. At her foot cut out from under her Megumi pitched forward off balance. Haku cringed in anticipation of a fall that never came. The human moved with her sudden momentum, offering her fan hand forward and her ensnared foot behind, catching her weight on the toes of her grounded foot. Lean and powerful, her bare leg lifted from beneath the fold of her kimono as her sleeves trailed in beautiful folds. The bell of her fan rang, seamlessly propelling her back to equilibrium. Extending grandly, she balanced perfectly weightless edge of the buoyant center he had shown her.

Stunned by the unexpected turn Haku could only stare.

It was a move he had seen Megumi employ in the dance studio.

Okesa lost her rhythm as she too was caught up in surprise.

Harmlessly her wiles rolled right by as Megumi rocked her weight backwards. The female lifted to the point of her toes as she swept her extended foot round, whipping into a tight spin. Still perched on her toe she whirled only to land flat footed before launching upward and vaulting to the side. Megumi's bell rang as she threw her hand to the side as she landed, bowing with controlled grace into a composed position. Over extended and exposed, the cat yanked forward under the power of the gesture. Tucking into a roll she somersaulted forward only to roll back up onto her feet. Dropping the ruse of her sumptuous garments, back in weathered black, the cat's tail bristled into an enormous brush.

Every one of her hairs was standing on end as Okesa stomped her foot.

At once Megumi's bell silenced.

Megumi sank to a rude seat gasping for breath.

She was human after all. Godspeed was not her custom.

Gesturing wildly with extended claws the cat scrambled for words.

 _"W-wot t'hell wuz tha'!?"_

"An arabesque…" Megumi wheezed finally.

"Ah-rah- _wot!?_ " The cat hissed suspiciously as her ears flattened.

"It's a standard position from classical ballet."

Megumi feebly circled a hand as she continued to gasp for breath.

Sinking slowly onto her heels the cat's ears swiveled uncertainly.

"Bah-lay? Aye's _never_ seen tha' a'for!"

Megumi nodded as she put a hand to her side as if it held a painful stitch.

"I figured that. I've been watching you and the others. You always dance the same style. I wanted to throw you a curve ball."

She recoiled with a gasp as the cat was at her side yanking on her arm.

" _Neh, neh, neh!_ Show me more bah-lay!"

Megumi fought her off, motioning at the males.

"Talk to Jae. I'm a terrible teacher. Kenka can show you ballroom moves too."

Okesa's red eyes dilated to the point that they swallowed her irises.

Kenka and Jae shrank as she rounded on them with intense interest.

She wiggled her claws at her sides in rapt anticipation.

"There's _more_?!"

Megumi snorted contemptuously.

"Of course there's more. There's a whole _world_ of dance styles and traditions."

Okesa hissed at her as she rounded on the female lashing her tail.

"Well aye's never seen 'em!" The cat threw back hotly, "Show me!"

As they continued to squabble Haku's knees began to shake.

Slowly what he had just witnessed began to sink in.

For a brief moment Megumi had gained the upper hand over Okesa.

A human had trumped a God.

Though their dance was but a game, had it not been so it was a deadly moment. Megumi was correct; Okesa only danced in one style.

All Gods spoke the same language.

Humans, however, spoke in hundreds of variations.

And in that diversity lay great power.

Power to best the Gods at their own game.

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

For some reason she felt the need to state the obvious.

"I looked," Chihiro croaked.

Suzume loosed an angry bark, making her jump.

"Keiichi could have looked for you!"

Answering his anger with more anger, she snapped back.

"I didn't want to make him look! Not after seeing what it does to him!"

Growling loudly he threw his hands at the flooded hall.

"And _this_ is an acceptable alternative!? She could have _drowned_ you, child! What could have been so important for you to risk yourself like this!?"

He was telling her things she already knew; still talking to her like she was an idiot. More than pissed Chihiro slammed her fist against the boards, splashing the water and making him yip in surprise. She was shouting now, yelling right back at him without holding back as she sat up. Because there were plenty of things he didn't know.

"I just wanted to see Lin, okay!? And it was worth it, you stupid, _stupid_ fox! Because I _saw_ them, Suzume! They're alive!"

He knocked back against the soaked sliders as if she'd pushed him.

Stunned speechless, Suzume gaped.

All the anger drained from him as he continued to stare.

So did all his color; leaving him bleached and frail.

She squeaked as yanked her in his arms, almost crushing her.

" _Suzume!"_ She gasped, _"Suzume, I can't breathe!"_

He loosened his grip only slightly, tucking her head under his chin. Worriedly he nuzzled the top of her head. It was the kind of thing an animal might do. Somehow satisfied by whatever he smelled, Suzume loosed an exasperated sigh. He shook her gently again and again. The undisguised affection fraying his voice to a whisper brough stinging tears to Chihiro's eyes.

"You stupid, _stupid_ girl! What am I to do with you!?"

Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him back.

Again he yipped as she nearly pulled him over.

"Don't call me stupid, you great big _jerk!_ "

Slowly he was leaning on her heavier and heavier.

All of a sudden she was the one holding him.

In the tiniest voice he commanded in the barest whisper.

"Tell me what you saw!"

It wasn't much of a command. Chihiro blinked, because Suzume was shaking; trembling violently as he drew back only to fold in on himself. The fox gathered handfuls of sodden kimono at her knees. Lowering his head onto his clutched fists, he bowed to her, begging now.

" _Please_ , Chihiro…! Tell me of Hayashimi else I shall _perish_ of fear!"

Chihiro tried not to stare. She didn't want to see him like this. It rattled her to the core. Even as she scrambled to see in other ways, if only for his sake, the images eluded her. They danced just out of her reach like strikes of lightning in the distance. But for some reason she was too far away to hear the thunder.

What the hell!?

Gritting her teeth in fury, Chihiro cursed Sengen under the breath. Is this what it was going to be like, then? That bitch could climb inside her head and chase her around with all kinds of _horrendous_ things, but the moment she needed to see what she'd seen they'd be snatched out of reach!?

Oh, there was no way she was going to let that stand!

Taking a deep breath Chihiro closed her eyes and confronted the boiling sea of inside her head. All at once the rest of the world faded as the screaming salt air whipped through her hair and the black waves smashed against her legs. They pulled on her indomitably, receding begrudgingly only to return with a vengeance. But this time the water hissed and fizzled against her skin, sending up gouts of steam as she glared at the churning water. Holding that breath she stepped into the surf and dove into the stinging currents.

Sinking like a stone, her insides thrilled with panic.

Down, down, down; she plunged into the swirling cold.

Until her feet hit the sandy bottom.

Again the lighting flashed, but this time right behind her eyes.

Kicking off the bottom, the bell in her heart rang triumphantly as she surfaced.

Out of the murky surf she tore a vision.

It was still a mess and not quite what she'd expected.

But it was a start.

Opening her eyes Chihiro rocked back onto her heels as the return was a more abrupt that she expected. Suzume as sitting up now; still clutching the fabric at her knees he was studying her face with an expression of awe and fear. In spite of being slightly disoriented, already she was pulling on the fox, struggling to stand.

"Get up, Suzume."

Mutely he obeyed, rising and pulling her with him.

Stooping, she hastily snatched up the mirror and shoved it into her sleeve.

Feeling like an idiot, awkwardly she slung the short sword thru the tie at her waist.

What the hell was Hidé thinking giving her of all people a sword!?

Grabbing the fox by the sleeve she pulled him down the hall frowning at the soggy floor. Her bare feet splashed in the standing water. Chihiro came up short in the nexus of the hallways. The entire entryway was flooded; black water pooled in deep puddles on the flagstones. She shivered as frigid air breathed in from the snowy garden. The water had ripped out the paper in the sliding doors lining the passage to the bath wing. It had even made it down the hallway leading to the kitchen. The tatami mats within were sure to be soaked! Surveying the damage, she gritted her teeth, chewing on the rage smoldering in her gut. She was so sick of having her house torn apart!

"Child," Suzume whispered in alarm, "You are _steaming_ …!"

Blinking back at him she found the fox frowning at her in disquiet.

He was leaning away from her, pulling against the grip she had on his sleeve.

Glancing at her arm she watched a curtain of vapor rise from the wet fabric.

At least she wasn't on fire. No flames no foul.

Nonplused, she let him go and threw her eyes to the ceiling, calling loudly.

"I know you're here!"

Still looking at her as if not sure what to make of all this Suzume shook himself like a wet dog, making a moue of distaste as he wrung out his sleeves.

"Child, I do not under-…"

" _Shhh!"_ She hissed at him, cutting him off, "I'm not talking to you!"

As silence answered her resolutely, a blast of heat escaped through her skin, tousling her hair and clothes. At once they were dry as Chihiro stomped her foot. Onsen shuddered violently as the impact rattled through the boards of the house from foundation to rafters. Spinning in a circle, Chihiro began to pant as her temperature rose. The intensity of the fire throbbed and teemed inside her stomach, spreading to her chest, pumping through her veins as magic crackled like electricity at the corners of her eyes. But she held it back. The last thing she wanted to do was set her hallway on fire. As she restrained her inner blaze she broke out in a sweat; her skin felt uncomfortably tight under the mounting pressure.

" _Kuromi!"_ Chihiro thundered, "I need to talk to you so just come out, okay?!"

Reluctantly a female voice echoed down the stairwell.

"Here…"

Spinning on her heel Chihiro made for the stairs.

But just as she mounted the first step Suzume caught her arm.

The fox growled beneath his breath, peering up into the second story.

Following his gaze she shrank back into him.

High above them, tucked unto the thick rafter shadows, was the spider.

Kuromi's red eyes glittered like stones as she crouched there. No longer wearing her school girl outfit, the spider's obi showed red and yellow like a warning in the dark. Her loose hair hung in a long curtain, pouring down like a stain of ink against the sallow wall. Her many hands flashed in glimmers of white in the gloom. They were everywhere; shifting nervously. The kami looked at her from the corner of her eyes as if ready to bolt. Chihiro felt the exact same thing in reverse! It was super _creepy_ to see her suspended there! Although what the spider had to be afraid of Chihiro didn't know.

"How do you know my name?" Kuromi began warily.

Chihiro ignored her question.

Already she was reaching her hands even as she leaned back into Suzume.

"I know you have it. You took it from the door after it closed. Give it to me!"

Kuromi blinked; her perfect pale brow tightening in alarm. One of her many hands retreated into her sleeve. The lacquered surface of bath tile caught the dim light as the spider revealed it. Sharp understanding dawned on her terrible beautiful face as she looked between them and the bit of wood. Kuromi stood, still hanging upside down. Chihiro flinched as she dropped, landing on her feet at the top of the stairs.

"That way is closed."

Chihiro blinked, confused as the spider tried to persuade her not to go.

"What is she talking about, child!?" Suzume growled in her ear.

Chihiro waved him off, never taking her eyes off the spider.

"Look, I know what I'm doing," Chihiro threw back impatiently, "Just give it to me, okay!?"

Kuromi shook her head resolutely, slipping the tile back into her kimono.

"Uguisudani Station will be crawling with my sisters. There are hundreds. You cannot hope to get past them even with the fox's help. They will kill you both."

At a loss for words, Chihiro gaped, utterly confused.

Why was the spider trying to protect them?

These _sisters_ she spoke of were the ones that had stolen Lin and Kiri!

They tore apart her house and nearly killed all her friends!

What did the spider care?

Anger crackled in her gut.

Chihiro gritted her teeth against curls of smoke.

Because she didn't have time for this!

Again she stomped her foot. Onsen jolted at her silent command, dislodging a curtain of dust. Suzume barked in surprise, dumping backwards against the wall as the stairwell heaved. The steps snapped into a slick incline that dumped the spider forward. Kuromi skidded down onto the middle landing with a shriek only to jump up, already climbing the wall in a blur of hands. Hastily the spider hurled a web of silk over her shoulder. It burst into flames, breaking around her in a cloud of ash as Chihiro pursued.

The steps snapped back into place as she pounded up the stairs.

As she went Chihiro struck aside each subsequent spray of silk.

The air was choked with smoldering ash as she reached the top.

Each flash of fire sent a burst of light down the pitch black hall.

Hideous shadows crawled and clambered up and down the walls as the spider ran.

But even as Kuromi tried to flee the hall stretched impossibly long.

Endlessly it poured onward as Chihiro chased.

Spinning on her heel the spider gave up on that direction.

Panting for breath, they faced off in the pitch dark hall.

"Just give me the bath tile already!"

Chihiro threw out her hands in exasperation.

"No!" Kuromi hissed, baring her teeth.

As the spider's hands moved ominously Suzume's flute screeched.

Chihiro startled as Kuromi shrieked equally shrill. The commanding music struck her physically. Flickering blue light plumed in the dark as the spider crashed into one wall only to spin and hurl herself against the other, making the wood splinter and buckle. Stunned and stymied, she tried to spring up onto the ceiling only to be snatched down by a trilling warble of sound. Trembling as if trying to hold up an enormous weight, the spider fell to her knees. Slapping hands to her ears, she collapsed onto the ground as the strident notes made her writhe and toss. It ripped at the spider's pretenses, peeling back the veneer of her appearance. At once her hard exoskeleton gleamed in the dark as her terrifying beetle black body filled the tiny space. With obsidian talons Kuromi clawed at the floor, tearing gouges in the wood.

" _No!"_ She keened, clambering to hide her face as she wailed miserably, _"Please!? Please, don't make me! I don't want to be a monster!"_

Unsettled by the sight, Chihiro shrank as a cold hissing stone of guilt dropped into the conflagration of magic churning in her chest. She glanced at Suzume sharply as he came along side her. Eerie blue foxfire burned in a crackling orb over his head, illuminating the pale hair fluttering about his face.

He continued to breathe breath after breath into the gold flute.

But slowly wrath transformed the song.

As his music turned cold and cruel, Chihiro grabbed Suzume's arm.

"Enough!"

But he wasn't listening.

The fox's gold eyes burned with the hate.

The emotion haunted him; transforming his face as he glowered at the spider.

Chihiro's blood turned to ice as she recognized his hollow expression.

Stepping between them she shoved him back, loosening her grip on the fire.

It erupted around her in a hungry halo of red, singing the ceiling and the floor.

Startled, he recoiled as she extinguished, making his foxfires gutter.

Stomping her foot again Chihiro made the floor pitch and roll beneath him.

" _I said enough, Suzume!"_

As he bared his teeth threateningly she blew a raspberry at him childishly.

It worked; as the fox sputtered indignantly she turned to the spider.

Kuromi had pulled back on the lie of her human form.

She was crying quietly, rocking back and forth hiding under her hands.

Sickened by what they'd done Chihiro looked away from the wretched creature.

Without hesitation Onsen frisked the spider with invisible hands. The bath tile skittering across the ruined floor and knocked against Chihiro's bare feet. She blinked at it stupidly then snatched it up. Magic bit and snapped at her fingers as she slapped it onto the nearest door. Without thinking she hauled open the slider only to cringe from the wall of stones that greeted her. She'd completely forgotten about the cave in! With a scream she recoiled from the flood of stones that poured through in a snarling rush. Boulders the size of her head smashed the floor and walls, tumbling down the front stairs.

They would've crushed her and Suzume had hands not seized them.

Again she squeaked as her feet left the ground. Something hauled her up into the safety of the rafters. Hugging a beam, Chihiro gritted her teeth as Onsen winced and shuddered. Finally the stones ceased to fall and the dust began to clear. Glancing to her right she found Suzume crouched on another beam. He was frowning in consternation at the avalanche of stones below. Looking to her left Chihiro jolted as she found her nose inches from Kuromi's. The spider's tear streaked face was grim as she stared back in cryptic silence. Slowly, as if trying not to frighten her, Kuromi took back the steadying hands Chihiro hadn't even noticed.

Stunned, Chihiro stared, studying the spider's face.

Kuromi was barely more than a teenager.

At least that was a human guise she chose to put forward.

And she was left wondering how much of what she chose to show was true.

Chihiro jumped as Suzume dropped among the clattering stones. Foxfires sparked and hissed to life in the dusty dark of the hall, clustering around him as he silently prowled up to the portal. The doorway hung dark and empty as the fox peered through with careful gold eyes. In a blink he was standing beneath her reaching with beckoning black hands in the tense silence. Chihiro didn't resist as Kuromi lowered her down into Suzume's waiting arms. The fox shoved her behind him as the spider dropped from above.

Lithely Kuromi landed without making a sound.

As she straightened she was wearing her school uniform again.

Chihiro found herself frowning at the spider's bare feet.

Kuromi crept to the edge of the doorway, studying the dark beyond.

As Chihiro tried to join her Suzume held her back.

Fury spiked in her chest as she spun to hiss through her teeth in his face.

" _If you want to find Lin stop holding me back and help me!"_

As he recoiled Chihiro yanked out of his grip, joining Kuromi at the doorway. She had to grip the frame to keep her hands from shaking. The spiders had been busy. Great beams of glittering spider silk bolstered the compromised ceiling. Hundreds upon hundreds buttressed the cracked uneven plane of the ceiling. The fallen stones had been cleared, piled up along the walls. A massive pile had dumped through when they opened the door. It was so very quiet; so perfectly still beyond the archway. Chihiro swallowed as she found her mouth dry. Her hammering heart throbbed in her ears so loudly she could feel the blood pumping in her veins. Because beyond the doorway was an all too familiar train platform.

Iron tracks gleamed in the dark like long mirrors, reflecting the blue foxfire.

They disappeared off into the yawning tunnels at either side.

The stone torii gate leading to the spider cavern yawned ahead of her.

Chihiro tried not to see the black stain of dried blood on the opposite side.

This was where they'd lost Lin and Kiri.

Fear pitched in her chest as she took an unsteady step forward.

But she came up short as four of Kuromi's arms shot out to bar the way.

Glaring, Chihiro opened her mouth to argue.

But the spider shut her up by placing a single finger on her lips.

"I won't try to stop you; so at least let me go first."

Chihiro blinked and blinked some more before blurting what was on her mind.

"Why're you helping us!?"

Kuromi looked back at her before throwing her conflicted gaze away.

Sniffing the air experimentally, she crept through before beckoning.

"My enemy's enemy is no enemy of mine."

"That's what you said in the kitchen," Chihiro replied resentfully as she loitered in the doorway, "That doesn't explain anything."

At once Kuromi was fiddling with her hair, spinning a long section around her fingers. It made her look painfully young. Finally the spider explained herself in a quick clipped response. Even though kami couldn't lie, it was obvious she meant every word.

"I made a deal with Nigihayami. I'll help you and yours. I won't stop you until you get your friends back."

Chihiro shied against the doorframe as Suzume appeared beside her.

His gold eyes were dangerous as they pinned the spider in place.

"In exchange for what?"

A muscle jumped in the back of her jaw as finally Kuromi answered.

"I want to be _human_ …!"

She whispered the word like a prayer.

As she did a deep distant tremor rattled through the ground.

Chihiro shrank with a gasp as dust and pebbles poured from cracks in the ceiling.

A great gust of wind blew through the tunnel.

It was strangely hot and smelled strongly of smoke.

"Quick!" Kuromi was beckoning vigorously, "Before it caves again!"

Suzume hauled her across the threshold.

Cringing from the sting of magic Chihiro spun on her heel.

She threw the door to the metal staircase closed, severing the connection.

Then she opened the door once more.

There was the second tile bath tile.

It was fixed to the metal where she'd placed it what felt like ages ago.

Peeling it free she shoved it into her sleeve. It clacked against the mirror as she shoved the sword around into the small of her back and hiked. Hiking the green kimono, her bare feet slapped on the steps as she began to climb. Blue foxfires whizzed around her in a constellation of light, illuminating the flights of steps above. Kuromi ghosted by, taking the lead as the host of her hands and feet painted the walls of the stairwell in a frightening thicket of shadows.

Up; Chihiro clambered, pushing herself faster and faster.

Her lungs and thighs burned; bare feet raw from the sharp bite of the metal grates. Suzume scooped her up as she stumbled, carrying her now as if she didn't weigh a thing. She could feel the bunching power of his muscles as the fox loped along. She hide her face in his shoulder as he kicked open the door to the stairwell. Wind caught her hair as they surged ahead so fast her insides thrilled. Electric lights blinked and sputtered as the fox strode through the sheets of plastic hiding the entrance to the spider's cavern.

Out; into the empty shattered halls of Uguisudani Station.

Swift like long streaks of lightning, foxfires flooded ahead of them, lighting the long tiled corridor. They hissed and fizzled up into the broken dome of the station atrium as Suzume sprinted out of the tunnel. He came up short momentarily as another distant tremor rolled and jolted the ground. Chihiro swallowed a truncated shriek as broken glass and massive chunks of ceiling rained from above, lit up in disturbing flashes as the firefly lights whizzed and darting between them.

" _This way!"_ Kuromi shouted over the bass moan of the crumbling building.

Chihiro's teeth snapped together as Suzume vaulted over a mess of benches.

A wall caved behind them with a metallic shriek.

Again the fox leaped out of the way, skidding as they burst through a door.

The metal frame ripped from its hinges under the impact of his shoulder.

It cartwheeled aside as he darted out into open air.

Breathing hard, Suzume spun on his heel, staring in horror as the roof caved.

Numbly Chihiro watched as Uguisudani Station folded in on itself.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHIHIRO**

Chihiro wobbled as the ground gave a sympathetic bone-rattling shiver.

She stared as the dust of the station's collapse plumed up in dark curls.

But these were lost in the midnight sky.

There were no buzzing yellow lights to catch the moment in harsh detail.

The buildings around the station were pitch-black.

So was every street and alley as far as she could see.

The silence and the stillness of the once bustling hub left her rattled.

She flinched as Suzume called a single orb of blue flame to life above them.

Chihiro refused to give up the fox's hand even as he set her down.

"Where is everyone?"

"They've been evacuated," Kuromi answered.

Turning, Chihiro caught sight of the spider further on down the road. She was standing on the other side of a road block festooned with caution tape. All the signs were pointing the opposite direction. Towing Suzume along she clambered under the tape, shivering violently as she turned to read the signs in the blue foxlight.

 _Caution! Do not enter! Unstable ground! Collapse imminent!_

Chihiro drew her lips into a grim line as she studied the scary looking yellow icons showing little line drawing people falling into a massive sinkhole. Already she was backing away, pulling on Suzume's pale sleeve.

"I think we should get out of here now."

Here the fox rounded on her.

His angry gold eyes reflected the pale flicker of the foxlight.

"Child! I did not question you before and I have borne the results of that folly in silence! Now I demand you tell me where it is we are going!"

Chihiro glared peevishly and answered him straight.

"Gojo Tenjin Shrine."

As he opened his mouth to snipe back his eyes dropped to her chest.

He blinked and went pink to the hem of his hakama.

Abruptly the fox spun away as her kimono slipped.

The short sword clattered to the ground along with the mirror and the tile as she scrambled the catch the kimono before it could pool around her ankles. Chihiro hastily turned her back as she struggled to keep it on. Thanks to the water, the fire, the wind, and the running the thin tie at her waist was pretty much useless. The thing was way too huge and much too long on her. It was Haku's after all.

Chihiro shrank with a squeak as Kuromi kneeled at her feet. Without a word the spider went to work on the green kimono. Hiking the hem above the thin tie at her hips, Kuromi folded the excess over, securing it at her waist with another tie magicked from midair. Several expert pairs of hands tucked and straightened the fabric as the spider produced a narrow obi from nowhere, winding her in the white silk only to secure it with another thick tie.

Sitting back on her heels Kuromi began shaping something in two pairs of her hands. Fascinated and delighted, Chihiro crouched to watch. The spider's fingers blurred with swiftness as she wove a pair of silk zori from thin air. As the spider gestured at her toes Chihiro held out her bruised feet so Kuromi could slide the sandals into place. Chihiro wiggled her toes around the thongs of her new sandals, taking a few scooting steps. They were incredibly soft and really scooshy.

"T-thanks!"

Satisfied, Kuromi stood with a nod.

Here Suzume began again testily as if nothing had happened.

"What is so important that it must be found at Gojo Tenjin Shrine?"

"You might want to be quiet from here on out," the spider counseled quietly as she looked up the fizzling blue orb, "None of those either."

Suzume growled at her but she didn't seem to notice.

Already Kuromi gestured at the wall of dark tunneling ahead of them.

"Gojo Tenjin Shrine's this way."

Hastily Chihiro stooped, picking up the mirror, the tile, and the sword so she could shove them down the front of her spider silk obi. She flinched as the foxlight fizzled out. As dark flooded around her panic surged up into Chihiro's throat. Before she could shrink into Suzume the fox claimed her arm, pulling her along as they followed Kuromi. But as her eyes adjusted to the dark the prick of fear went numb.

The streets were empty.

No monsters or creepy ghosts.

Just empty avenues of concrete.

Chihiro frowned as they walked down the middle of the dark avenue.

It was so weird to be right in the middle of such a main street.

As the tall buildings parted Chihiro caught a glimpse of the city. In the distance, as if it was another world entirely, the rest of Tokyo glittered in a kaleidoscope of colored lights. Ueno Park, however, loomed atop the hill ahead like a blot of ink. The dark silhouette of the pagoda hung in the sky like some monstrous giant. Somewhere in the distance a temple bell rang a hollow haunting tone.

Again and again it rang; echoing the hum in her heart.

Premonition gathered over Chihiro's head as they crossed the street, passing under the dark arms of the bare trees lining the massive courtyard at the heart of the park, Chihiro could feel the change. Tokyo was much warmer than Izu; so warm she wasn't freezing in just the kimono. But now a cold sweat broke out all over her body. With every step she could feel the stones beneath her feet vibrating with something beyond description. The skin between her shoulder blades crawled as the tips of her fingers tingled. A strange pressure exuded out of the dark that made the hair on her forearms stand on end. Chihiro knew that feeling all too well.

It wasn't surprising that Ueno Park should feel this way.

It was one of the last places you could find kami in Tokyo.

Chihiro came up short as they rounded another familiar corner. Ahead of them a building lay in a heap as if it had folded flat. It must have collapsed in the earthquake. But as she continued to stare at the wreckage her frown deepened until her forehead hurt. Because she was struggling to understand why she recognized the rose garden beside the ruin; the elm that leaned over the devastated building was equally familiar. So were the dim outlines of the wrought-iron tables and chairs still peeking out from under the debris that had collapsed onto the deck.

Chihiro stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the shards of ceramic.

A smashed pitcher lay in the middle of the path.

It took her a moment to see the sign where it lay on the ground a few feet away.

 _Le Pichet_. It announced in plucky curling letters.

In a horrible flash she understood.

Her head snapped around in horror as finally she _saw_ the remains.

Gone was the dance studio.

Gone was the kitchen with its squeaky black and white tiles.

Gone were lacey curtains and the lovely smell of baked bread.

Gone was the little apartment tucked away in the top corner.

Gone was the pool of sunlight where she and Haku lay so blissfully.

All that remained was a hollow, ruined, wreck of wood and plaster.

The loss cut her deeply; so deeply she didn't realize it until the sorrow welled. The wound in her memory was bleeding profusely. She tried to staunch the emotions somehow feeling like it was wrong of her to be so upset. She hadn't worked here; she hadn't lived here either. But still, this place had been a part of her life. She'd wanted to be here. This place mattered to her. And now it was gone!

Suzume hauled her along behind him.

Numbly she followed.

Looking over her shoulder she couldn't even see it anymore.

Night swallowed the building whole.

Chihiro stumbled, barely seeing the tall stand of bamboo or the red torii gates as she passed beneath the arbor of their clustered lintels. Pressed between the high stone walls that grew taller and taller as the ground sloped away, she lurched down the slick stones as if dreaming. Only as the walls yawned open ahead and light flickered into the courtyard of the dark grotto below ahead of them did the surroundings register.

Again the temple bell rang distantly.

Chihiro jolted at the sound as she stared down the hill into Gojo Tenjin Shrine.

As she did the bell in her heart rang clamorously.

All at once the vision she'd pulled out of the water inside her head suddenly came to life. Seizing Suzume, she hauled the fox to a stop, pointing wordlessly. Ahead of them, further down the network of stairs, copper green gables of hundreds of tiny shrines clustered in mazes in the grotto below. Over them folded the swooping roof of the main shrine. Light spilled out from the interior illuminating a handful of kids. Chihiro could see them clearly from their vantage point.

They clustered around the offering box using it like piece of furniture. Grinning widely a boy in a battered fedora held a pep tea bottle out of reach. An even younger little boy in an orange marshmallow jacket jumped for it. A girl smacked fedora boy making her plastic bangles rattle. He bowed to her in apology and relinquished the tea only to shrink as something splashed in the adjacent koi pond. On a rock beside the water an impossibly tiny old man stooped to fill his kettle only to fight to keep hold of it as a slimy creature tried to snatch it from his hands.

"Back! Back, you stupid kappa! That's my kettle!"

Ripping it free, he spilled back onto the stones.

He blinked behind glasses that magnified his eyes to massive proportions.

Chihiro blinked because she'd seen all of them before.

Somehow she knew them.

But for the first time Chihiro recognized them for what they were.

Kami; they were kami!

The girl with the plastic bangles turned to a form huddled against one of the shrine pillars offering a convenience store bento box. It took Chihiro a moment to see the woman; she was half hidden behind a stone fox statue. She shook her head, hugging her knees as if sick. Obviously worried, the girl stood forlornly by her side as if at a loss for what to do. Chihiro blinked in surprise as a name rolled off her tongue.

"Aki!"

Just as surprised the kami's head shot up.

Her pale face was white beneath the wild mess of her sandy-red hair.

Aki's gold eyes flashed as they found her across the distance.

The light in the shrine flared, turning blue as it dropped from the rafters.

Chihiro gasped as she realized it was a foxlight!

All at once the rat girl was on her feet pointing up at them.

 _"Spider!"_ The girl shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Kuromi swore beneath her breath.

Suzume flattened Chihiro against the side of the path as the spider shoved by.

But before she could get far foxlight exploded overhead.

The light was shocking; it blinded Chihiro, taking her utterly by surprise.

Because she hadn't seen any of this!

With a savage howl Aki fell on Kuromi from above. A gold wheel gleamed on the woman's red lacquered armor as the silver of her twin blades flashed. They hit stone, spitting sparks and sharp shards as Kuromi dove backwards. She sprang up at Chihiro's feet throwing lances of silk as she transformed. At once wearing beetle black armor the spider's red eyes flashed dangerously beneath the visor of her helmet. Cutting down each of the projectiles with stunning accuracy, Aki blocked the exit to the shrine even as she advanced with another savage growl.

Aki hacked at the spider heedless to the fact that they were dangerously close. Suzume shoved Chihiro out of the way as Aki swung her blade wide. The razor edge cut through the thick torii pillar where she'd been standing! The wind of its passing hissed right over her head as they fell to the stones. Rolling aside and dragging her with him, Suzume flattened Chihiro against the stone wall as the trampling horde of Kuormi's feet smashed the pavement.

The spider had swords of hard silk in her hands, deflecting and parrying the vicious barrage of Aki slashing blows in a blur Chihiro couldn't track. But it became painfully obvious that she wasn't any match for Aki. With an impact that rocked the stones behind Chihiro's back, the fox woman hurled Kuromi's blades aside, embedding them deep in the pillars. In a move the spider didn't expect the Aki leapt high only to catch the heavy lintel of a stone gate and haul it down with supernatural strength.

The massive pillar of stone bounced off spider's helmet.

It sent her stunned and sprawling to the ground.

Before Aki could fall on Kuromi more foxfire erupted in the narrow passage. The fox woman recoiled with a howling shriek as a barrage of blue flame stuck her full in the face. But she didn't burn even as the blue tongues caught her armor on fire, making the lacquer blister and melt. All the same, she wasn't immune to the pain. Dropping her swords she clutched at her face and screamed in agony as she thrashed in the dark. Aghast at the horrifying sight, Chihiro startled up onto her rubbery legs, shrinking toward the stairs as Suzume filled the passage between them.

His gold flute was at his lips.

The compelling song screeched in the dark.

Still on fire, Aki whirled to face Suzume.

And it turned out she wasn't immune to only his fire.

Knocking aside his flute she balled up her fist and punched him right in the face. Chihiro screamed as Suzume went down hard, disappearing over the lip of the steps as she scrambled too late to catch him. Cold and sick with terror she whirled back to the passage as Aki snarled. Looking her up and down before glaring in utter hate at the spider silk obi, the flaming fox woman lunging at her. Chihiro screamed as a lasso of silk whizzed out of the dark, looping around Aki's neck sending her careened into the adjacent stone wall. The fox woman howled, crashing into the opposite wall as she fought against the now burning lines of silk. Desperately Kuromi hauled back on the ropes, casting another and another only to have them catch fire. As they turned to glowing coals they began to disintegrate.

Gnashing and snapping her teeth, Aki strained forward, grabbing at Chihiro with burning hands bathed in blue foxfire. She recoiled with a gasp, teetering atop the precipice of the steep stairs transfixed by the madness in the kami's eyes. Fear drenched her with paralyzing cold as the coals of the fire in her heart shrank in hissing terror. But in that moment Chihiro saw the truth in Aki. She saw the fox and the dog at war within the God woman. For the moment the dog had won. Blinded by pain and fire, Aki gave the beast inside her free reign. It set her upon them frenzied and frothing at the mouth.

Kuromi screeched as the last line of silk snapped.

Chihiro's feet left the ground as Aki surged forward to seize her by the throat.

* * *

 **HAKU**

 _"Whee!"_ Okesa shrieked merrily as Kenka waltzed her around the room.

The tall male laughed just as rapturously as he swung her in dizzying circles.

Megumi was trying not to smile again.

Her blithe eyes watched with fascination.

Haku studied the female from the corner of his eyes.

She was quite beautiful when she was not scowling and judging the world.

Haku's lips quirked as Megumi shoved food into her mouth; it was an ungainly sight that revealed an earthiness he had not expected. Licking her chopsticks the female held out her empty plate out demandingly. Obliging with uncharacteristic silence, Jae prepared her a second helping. The male revived the cold repast Michio began earlier on the griddle recessed into the low table. Once on her plate Jae drowned the flat savory delectables in ribbons of mayonnaise and strange sweet salty sauce squeezed from floppy bottles. Not finished yet, the human garnished each with toasted sesame seeds, shreds of roasted nori, finishing each with a small bloom of pickled ginger.

The delicious smells set his mouth watering earlier.

Haku, however, had entirely forgotten his after the first few bites.

Impatiently he drummed his fingers on the table top.

One-two-three, one-two-three; unconsciously keeping rhythm.

The sounds of the parties in the rooms below and beside faded into silence.

He found himself desperately listening for approaching foot steps.

Again Haku glanced at the door and sighed gustily.

Jae and Megumi's clothing fluttered in the wind of his disquiet.

Across the table the humans frowned at him uncertainly.

"S'up, man? You ain't touched your food."

Jae poured and offered another drink. Haku accepted the glass not bothering to sip this time. Swallowing a gulp of the bitter brew the fizzy beer burned in his belly and lit his cheeks with heat. Feeling strangely light-headed he gestured toward the door.

"Chihiro is long overdue, do you not think?"

Jae waved off his worry dismissively as he polished off another bottle.

"She's probably out with that kid an' her mom."

Haku's frown deepened as again he looked at the door.

As he opened his mouth to argue Jae cut him off.

"Man _,_ quit _worryin'_ about her! What are you, her man or her _mom_!?"

Haku frowned irritably as Jae grinned at him like he was an idiot. Red faced and squinting at him as if to clear his vision, the male gestured at him with a bottle.

"You gotta give chicks room otherwise you'll smother 'em. Y'gotta play it cool, right? Give 'em space an' let 'em come t'you."

Megumi snorted derisively.

"Since when do you know anything about women?"

Grinning with disarming charm Haku did not expect, Jae poured her a glass.

"More 'an y'think, Meg."

His hand weaved in the air unsteadily as he offered it. Half annoyed, half amused, Megumi fought to catch hold of it before it spilled. Each time she reached for it he listed forward or to the side. All the while Jae's grin grew broader and broader until Megumi realized he was purposefully with holding the glass to tease her. She slapped his shoulder as she finally caught hold of the glass.

"You're such an ass!"

In spite of her admonishment Megumi was grinning. She blinked as he reclined onto the tatami beside her, preening as he gazed up at her slyly. Pink crept into her cheeks as abruptly she looked away to busy with the business of her drink. She, however, did not shove him away. Haku blinked rapidly as he caught wind of something between them. Whatever it was disappeared as abruptly Okesa pounced Jae. She landed soundly on his middle from quite a height making him curl up wiggling his limbs like an inverted beetle as all the air rasped from his lungs. Megumi recoiled in surprise as the cat jostled him from side to side as he lolled on the ground limp and stunned.

"Jae-Jae! Neh, didja see me, Jae-Jae? Didja see me _wall_ -zing-ing?"

She hauled him into her lap, pulling and yanking.

"Kenka's all tuckered. Dance wit' me, neh? Show me some bah-lay?"

"See, Meg?" The male gasped faintly still grinning, "The ladies _love_ me…"

Haku made room for Kenka as the tall male collapsed beside him panting for breath and trembling with exertion. He laughed high and free, glowing with happiness as he collapsed on the mat, gratefully accepted a glass of beer as Haku poured and offered. Sitting up on his elbow he downed the drink in a single gulp.

" _Dude!_ I haven't danced like that in years and years on account of this!"

He patted his hand on his chest over his heart.

"I wish I could keep going but I'm seriously out of shape!"

They both flinched as the table loudly scooted across the floor.

Megumi was on her feet storming away under a dark cloud.

"Where y'goin', Meg?" Jae called after her in a loss.

"What do you care?" She snapped back angrily, "You're not my mom!"

Megumi slammed the sliding door in her wake. Cinna jumped as all the hair on her tail bristled out. Giving Jae another companionable shake she draped herself around his shoulders while whispering in his ear.

"Wot's 'er problem, neh?"

Blank faced with confusion Kenka looked between Jae, the cat, and the door.

Understanding slowly dawned on him; understand Haku wished he shared.

The tall male stood shakily looking like he was going to follow.

Then the sliding door ripped back open.

White with surprise, Megumi lurched back inside as Bozu towed her in his wake.

Obviously upset the tiny yokai was scolding her in a shrill voice.

"Bozu has been looking for you _everywhere_ , pretty human! Too many buzzy-buzzy lights! Hurt's Bozu's eyes! Bozu couldn't find you!"

Pale blue with dread, Chouchin bobbed and darted behind them. The lantern knocked against the back of Megumi's head as she surged by. Spilling forward onto the tatami, the female cringed from the light as circled the room spitting frightened sparks. Haku was on his feet in a blink, catching the panicked God light.

Cold poured up his hands into his heart as she trembled in his hands.

It drenched him in dread; turning his legs to lead.

Premonition hung over his head the dark crest of a rouge wave.

"Ah! Stupid dragon is here!"

Frozen with fear he stared as the one-eyed creature suddenly yanking on his arm.

"Come quick! Come quick, stupid dragon!

The lantern ripped from his grip, darting up and around, pushing against his back, trying to shove him out of the room as Bozu guided him along.

"The _ocean_ is in your house!"

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

The heat of Aki's flames ghosted across Chihiro's cheek.

But the fox woman's burning hand missed as Chihiro threw herself backwards.

Her insides swam giddily as she fell like when she first looked into the mirror.

But it wasn't water that waited for her this time.

The wind knocked right out of her lungs as Suzume caught her.

Stunned for a moment, she jolted in the fox's arms as blue fire streaked down at them from the sky above. Dancing lithely between the ghostly meteors as they exploded in showers of snapping white Suzume whirled and darted among the stone statues, disappearing into the grotto's maze. Breathing hard, the fox pressed into the pitch black pooling beneath one of the stone foxes guarding a tiny roofed courtyard.

Chihiro blinked in horror as she stared up at his face.

Blood smeared his face and the front of his kimono.

His bottom lip had split where the fox woman punched him.

It was a terrible reminder that his flute and his foxfire were no good against Aki.

Gritting his teeth, Suzume draw back further into the shadows as Aki leapt down from the hill. A jolt rolled through the ground as the crazy fox woman landed hard not far away. She growled in frustration. It was all too familiar a sound! Chihiro had heard Suzume growl in the exact same manner. Aki's animalistic shadow prowled across the still faces of the stone fox statues. As if unsure of what he was seeing Suzume watched Aki from the corners of his reflective gold eyes, both baffled and stunned.

Chihiro glanced between them equally confused.

Because he could've taken Aki down if he wanted to.

She'd seen Suzume rip the legs off a Forgotten.

Why was he holding back?

 _"Spiders!"_ Aki shouted wrathfully, _"Where are you, spiders!?"_

Snarling furiously, she snuffled the air loudly.

Spinning in a furious circle, she began pacing and panting.

Chihiro cringed as she realized the fox woman thought they were spiders.

Then it dawned on her that Aki was nuts! Seriously crazy!

"You smell like _blood and fear_ , spiders! I ran from you once but never again!"

Here her voice cracked with anguish on her declaration.

" _Cowards!_ _Murderers!_ You may grind us beneath the Wheel, you may eat alive my brothers and sisters in arms, but I still live, spiders! Shitamachi _lives_ in me!"

She struck the breastplate of her armor with her fist as she continued to howl.

As she did licking supernatural fire bloomed around her shoulders.

The crackling flames climbed up into her wild hair transforming her into a demon.

 _"Come out and face me! I will show you the true hellfires of Jigoku!"_

Brandishing her twin blades she whirled.

Suzume clamped his hand over Chihiro's mouth as she gasped.

Aki's reflective eyes shot toward them before they roved past their hiding spot.

Suddenly she was staring into the distance with predatorial acuity.

The insane fox woman's face tightened with confusion as bells rang.

A tremor vibrated the ground as they chimed sonorously.

Not the deep booming bass of the far-off temple.

These were close and clear like a shiver of falling snow.

Suzume flinched at the sound; so did Aki.

Again the hissing bells pealed high and shrill.

Someone was moving towards them in the dark. Chihiro stared in stunned surprise as an elderly human woman limped down a side path. Tall, thin, and regal; she was dressed in the white kimono and red hakama of a shrine servant. She moved with an unhurried even slowness. Her silver frosted hair was pulled back into a twist. She was more than middle aged and had weathered beneath time and trouble, yet she remained trim beneath her robes.

Light flash off her rectangular glasses if for a moment.

Chihiro blinked as she realized the woman's eyes were gray.

They burned like foxfires in the dark.

Unflinching, she turned and fixed Aki with a calm stare. But as Aki lunged the stranger dropped the stranger lifted her bow, striking the string with the shaft of a ceremonial arrow. The bells attached the fletching chimed and clanged stridently as the string buzzed harshly. The uncanny sound rattled Chihiro's teeth, vibrating in her very bones. It struck the fox woman physically, making the ethereal blue fire gutter and extinguish. Aki recoiled, wavering on her feet trembling and visibly afraid.

 _"Spider!"_ The fox woman snarled hysterically, "I will _kill_ you, spider!"

Again the stranger struck the bow string with her arrow

Aki dropped her swords as she fell to her knees clamping hands over her ears.

Faster and faster the bow buzzed and the bells clanged.

Until Aki crashed to the ground with a strangled shriek.

 _"Mother!"_ She wailed pathetically, _"Mother, help me!"_

Chihiro sprawled on the stones as Suzume dropped her. Stunned she watched him intervene between the human and the fox woman. A blue flame erupted like a third eyes above his head as Suzume wordlessly threw out a warding hand. The stranger threw up her hands, continuing to hold them aloft in a sigh of supplication as the buzzing bow string hummed into silence. All that was left was the sound of Aki sobbing against the stones as the stranger lowered her arrow.

"Peace, O-kami-sama. I bid you welcome."

Suzume returned her greeting with a vicious snarl, baring his sharp teeth. Eerie blue light flooded the courtyard as scores of foxfire erupted above him as he exuded incandescent light. His white kimono and hakama rippled as the foxfires whizzed around him in orbits of hissing fire that sent the shadows crawling. The fox emerged from within him as his gold eyes flashed in the dark, reflecting the passing lights. The shadow of the sharp points of his ears spilled across the ground along with the lashing brush of his tail. Stupid fear surged into Chihiro's throat as she shrank behind a stone statue.

When he was being prissy and moody it was easy to forget he was a God.

Times like these were a sharp reminder of how much more Suzume could be.

" _Peace!?_ "

Suzume thundered wrathfully, making his fires pulse, boil, and crackle.

"How can I be at _peace_ when you torment this kami, o- _fujo!?_ " (1)

Chihiro wasn't sure what a fujo was, but apparently it was someone who dealt with kami because the woman didn't even bat an eye at his fiery fit. Warily peering out from her hiding place Chihiro watched the stranger carefully turn her bow horizontal in her hands. She bowed over it low and slow; offering it out to Suzume as if the gesture was meaningful in some way.

"As you can see her suffering has given birth to the demon inside of her, O-kami-sama. I have laid it to rest for the time being."

Suzume's foxfire guttered at that, dwindling small.

He glanced at Aki from the corner of his eyes.

His brows drew together in concern as he studied the fox woman uncertainly.

Here he sidestepped in surprise as the kami girl appeared out of nowhere, resolving in front of Aki clutching a baseball bat. Chirhio blinked and blinked as she took in the girl's long tail and the large ears protruding from her tangled black hair. For a moment she stumbled about inside her head trying to decide if she was a mouse or a rat. The kami girl was shaking so badly her plastic bracelets rattled violently.

"P-please d-don't hurt Aki-san!"

Seconds later fedora boy joined her, appearing out of a fluttered of shadows. He was holding the lid of a trash can like a shield as he cowered in front of his friend. It took Chihiro a second to realize he was a badger. The mousy brown of his ratty coat wasn't a jacket after all. She marveled at the tufts of his ears protruded through the brim of his hat.

"She didn't mean to get so scary, honest, ma'am! Aki just went a little crazy over what happened in Shitamachi!"

The rat girl dropped her bat and lunged to catch the tiny child in the orange marshmallow jacket as he sprinted between them hissing and spitting in fury. Locking her arms around his middle she anchored him in place as the tiny male cat clawed at the air growling and baring his teeth as every hair on his head stood on end.

"K-kitten, no!"

The strange woman took all this in with a mild smile.

Here the woman's attention returned to Suzume.

"You are not Ueno-kami or Shitano-kami. Where have you come from, O-kami-sama?"

Scowling as if not sure what to make of any of this the fox retreated a step, letting his Godishness fade like his fires fade until only one remained. He sidestepped again with a yip of surprise as the tiny old yokai with the coke-bottle glasses leapt from behind his knees to chuck a handful of beans at Aki.

 _"Ha-ha!"_ The tattered thing crowed triumphantly, "Demons be gone!"

Aki flinched, sitting up blinking in confusion as the adzuki clattered around her.

At once Suzume rounded on the yokai with a furious snarl.

 _"Insolent creature!"_ He barked, "I tire of your antics!"

The goblin fled with a shriek to hide behind badger boy's garbage can shield wringing his hands around the handle of his loudly rattling kettle. Chihiro scrambled out of hiding to seize Suzume arm, hauling him back as he continued to growl. The fox silenced with a start as the rat girl gasped.

"Another human!"

Hurriedly she picked up the cat-boy and hid behind the lid of the trash can as if it could make her invisible, angrily appealing to the badger.

"I thought you said they all evacuated?"

He flinched at his name.

"Well there's two of 'em, isn't there!? Some of 'em must've stayed!"

"She can see us, Gohan!" The rat girl hissed in mortification, "They both can!"

"I know, Sumirei! Will you shut up already!? They can hear us too!"

At once the boy lunged, scrambling to catch the blue skinned yokai as he peered out to look Chihiro up and down. His enormous eyes blinked comically as he waved with a faint smile, rattling his tea kettle at her.

"Yoo-hoo? Hello, little girl."

"Don't talk to her, Grandpa Bean! We're not supposed to talk to humans!"

The yokai was pointed at something behind her, staring with interest.

"Look closely at her shadow, my boy. Can't you see? There's two of them?"

Chihiro shrank nervously from their intense stares hiding behind Suzume.

The yokai shook his kettle absently as he looked her right in the eye.

"See? She's more kami than human."

Chihiro gritted her teeth as her insides went cold. What did he mean she was more kami than human! She jumped as the kami disappeared in a clotted flutter of disappearing shadows, clambering back and forth behind Suzume, making the fox throw up his arms as she circled him searching the courtyard.

The kami were gone!

"I have seen you Ogino Chihiro. Or should I call you Sen."

Chihiro rang like a bell at the name of her second self.

Whirling, she threw her attention back at the strange woman. Heat flooded her cheeks as she fidgeted awkwardly. Chihiro was quite sure they'd never met. Dumbstruck, she could only stare at a loss because again, she hadn't seen any of this!

"Um... D-do I know you?"

"No and yes," The woman replied cryptically, "My name is Hitomi Kazue. I serve the Gojo Tenjin Shrine."

With that the creepy woman turned and slowly limped back away.

Down the path in front of her lay the dark outline of the shrine complex.

"Come with me," she called back without turning, "Bring the fox woman."

Nervously shifting from one foot to the other, she found herself gritting her teeth.

Not sure what to do, Chihiro looked up at Suzume trying to catch his eyes.

The fox was still looking after the strange woman with an unreadable expression.

Before Chihiro could tug on his sleeve he knelt beside Aki.

The fox woman shrank, crouching timidly as if about to bolt.

But she froze; her gold eyes widening with recognition.

"B-brother mine?"

Aki whispered the word in astonishment as she stared up at Suzume in awe.

Suzume cringed from the word as if she'd punched him in the face again.

He turned away into shadow so she couldn't see.

But Chihiro could see.

Her insides scrambled uncomfortably as she tried not to.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut.

His brow creased with anguish as a breath caught in his throat.

For some reason inside her head she saw the broken fox masks.

High on a shelf tucked away in the mausoleum that was Mrs. Nikkou's bedroom.

She'd worn one once.

It had belonged to one of Suzume's sisters.

Chihiro didn't know much about his family.

She only knew that they were all dead.

What a terrible thing it was to know that even Gods could die.

She startled as finally Suzume spoke.

He choked on the words as they escaped beneath his breath.

"I am _not_ your brother, fox child!"

All the same he offered his blackened hands, extending them with a gentleness Chihiro rarely saw. Hesitantly, as if afraid he wasn't real, Aki took them. All kinds of difficulty things clambered across Suzume's face as he pulled her upright. His gold eyes were stricken with as he ushered the stunned kami toward the shrine complex in a pool of blue light from the single licking foxfire overhead.

Left alone in their wake Chihiro shivered violently.

A sinking feeling eroded her knees until her legs were shaking.

Turning, she stared at the dark secondary shrine.

It loomed like a mountain behind the sea of stone fox statues.

Distantly that stupid temple bell knolled a low hollow note.

It made the bell in her heart vibrate in sympathy.

Because this was what she saw in her vision.

But the feeling of conviction that had driven her here was completely gone.

Now silence and dark pressed in on her from all sides.

It left her feeling small and completely lost.

At the time she'd been so sure that it was the right thing to do.

Now she wasn't sure; wasn't sure of anything!

Doubt welled in her heart.

She gritted her teeth against a sob as it pushed and pulled like the frozen waves.

She hissed beneath her breath, talking to herself no matter how crazy it felt.

Because maybe Sen would give her a clue!?

Her only other choice was to look at the mirror again.

No way in hell she was going to do that!

" _What the hell is going on!?"_

No one answered.

Well, not in the way she'd hoped.

"I don't think I should come."

Chihiro shied with a squeal as Kuromi appeared beside her.

The spider was looking after the foxes with a grim expression.

Chihiro blinked as she put Suzume's flute in her hands.

More appeared as Kuromi put a steadying hands on her shoulders.

They burned with cold through the fabric of her kimono.

"I'll be outside, okay? Just call if you need me."

Then the spider was gone.

Chihiro wavered on her feet for a moment.

Then she sprinted after Suzume clutching his flute.

* * *

 **NOTES:**

(1) There are usually two readings for each kanji. The Japanese word miko (巫女) can also be pronounced fujo. It is an archaic reading, one that isn't used anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

**HAKU**

Someone shrieked as his wind hit the tiny room.

It erupted around him in a vicious gale.

The sliders rattled and shook as Haku rocketed out of the second story window.

Out into thin air, he shot like an arrow from a bow.

Propelled into the frozen night by the yokai's terrible words.

Putting the wind beneath his heels he sprang from roof top to roof top, making each shudder and ripple as his wind ripped by, only to throw himself off the edge of the last into thin air. The umbrella furled loudly as he opened it only to fill the fabric with an enormous gust, emptying the contents of his lungs until he yanked back up into the frigid sky. He whipped through the low frozen clouds, cutting gouges through the mist as the bright streets of Kumomi blurred beneath him.

Again he was sinking, arching over the tall trees lining the Shrine parking lot.

The New Years festival yawned beneath him.

Milling bodies moved in lines and crowds, crawling the hill like ants.

Voices and music rolled up off the ground in laughing waves he did not hear.

Delicious smells rose around his feet that he did not smell.

Haku landed on the roof of the shrine complex with a resounding thud.

Tucking into a roll, he skidded down the slick ceramic roof tiles.

Dropping from the eaves, Haku landed lightly on his feet.

As he returned the umbrella to his coat his wind caught.

The unruly gale raked the side of the shrine buildings.

It ripped sliding doors half open and rattled the rest.

Haku barely noticed Amano as the human yank one open.

"Hey!?" He called after him angrily as Haku stalked through the dark garden, "What t'hell's this all about, Nigihayami!? Was that you just on t'roof!?"

"Hello, O-kami-sama!"

The old priest called distantly as Haku did not so much as pause.

"Goodbye, O-kami-sama!"

Ignoring the humans he sprinted around the corner in another bust of wind.

He was at the door to the garden shed in a single stride.

The red bath tile gleamed in the dark.

Ripping it open Haku slammed it shut behind him as he flew through the door.

His feet hardly touched the ground as he sailed up the steps into the main hall.

Only to cringe back as his feet splashed in salt water.

The house stank of ocean.

Bits of seaweed and sand eddied in the still drifting puddles.

Onsen flooded the rafters over his head in a fit of anxiety.

The walls and the floor shook and creaked as she made them stretch and flex.

She lit ever lantern and candle with the flickering white flames of her being.

Enormous boulders filled the hall ahead of him.

More sat sullenly on the middle landing of the front stairs.

Creeping forward, Haku craned his neck as he caught a flash of red.

Peering beyond the stones he saw Chihiro's fire kimono.

If floated like a drowned bird in the dark pool that now filled the front entryway.

"Chihiro!?" He thundered in a panic.

The ensuing silence froze the very blood in his veins.

At once Onsen spilled light down the stairs from the second story.

Vaulting over the stones Haku shot up into the upstairs hall.

Stones filled the hall from wall to wall as if an avalanche had poured through.

It had.

At the end of the hallway, glaring the dark like a red eye, was a bath tile.

It was firmly fixed to the door to Chihiro's old room.

Dust flew in his wake as he was at the door hauling it open.

Only to stare through into the dark interior of the room beyond.

The connection had been severed.

He could not follow.

Haku caught himself on the frame as his knees gave.

All the same he dumped down onto the floor the middle of the doorway.

Numb with terror he ripped the compass from his pocket with shaking hands.

Lazily the needle swung slowly, so slowly Haku choked on a sob.

It pointed north-east: the direction of bad luck.

It was an ill omen!

He dropped the compass, clenching hands into fists as he bowed over his knees.

These he hammered once upon the floor.

The entire house shook, jolting him off the boards as he loosed a shout of agony.

The stones at his back roared as they bounced and clattered.

Because she had gone so very, _very_ far!

Collapsed there on the hard boards Haku tried to think.

How long had it been since last he saw her?

An hour? Two hours? Possibly three?

What could have possibly happened in that time!?

Snatching up his compass, again he studied the needle.

Tokyo!? Tokyo was north east!

His head shot up as he though of the motorcycle was parked in the lot out front.

He knew not how far the tank of gas would take him.

He would travel the rest of the way by air or foot if need be.

Flying to his feet, he turned to flee the house.

Only to find someone standing behind him.

Instinct took over as he flew backwards through the air. Haku redirected, whipped into a flip like a cracking whip. He bounced like a coiled spring as his feet hit the ground so firmly the room shook. At once Hanoane in hand as he advanced with a furious wind at his back. It took him a second to see the cat as the buzzing bulb overhead swung wildly. Her red eyes were dilated to the point that they became mirrors. With every hair on her body standing at attention Okesa shrank waving her hands.

 _"Neh, neh, neh!"_ She hissed, "Simmer down, neh, kitten!"

He stared at her a numb moment as the urge to fight still sang in his blood.

As she crept forward cagily she glanced at the blade in his hand.

"Put t'sword 'way, neh kitten?"

Haku stared at it for a moment before realizing it was in his hand.

Hastily he returned it to the shadows at his hip.

Then he appealed to her for something, anything to make sense of what happened.

"Chihiro is gone, Okesa! Why is she gone!?"

Okesa shrank from his vehemence before gesturing at the ceiling.

"Onsen say she's got Suzume 'n' t'spider wit' 'er!"

Haku was stunned and dismayed.

 _"Spider!?"_

He tried to push by the cat only to have her tackle him.

His back bounced off the floor and the wind left his lungs as she sat on his chest.

She was a tiny creature, and yet he could not lift her even as he struggled.

"Get off, Okesa!" Haku thundered furiously, "Get off at once!"

She flattened her ears and crossed her arms, firmly anchoring him in place.

"Why!? So y'cun go rocketin' off in t'space like ah bat outta hell! Wotcha gonna do, neh? Nothin', tha's wot! Y'gotta stay put!"

Haku blinked and shrank as she spit the words in his face.

"But Chihiro!?"

"Chihiro's gonna be fine, kitten! She's got Suzume, neh?! Wot 'bout Satako, neh? Y'gonna leave 'er? Wot 'bout _all_ yer kids, neh? Y'gonna leave 'em t'go chasin' shadows!?"

Haku stared at her mutely working his mouth.

"She's gonna come back, kitten! This's 'er _home!_ _Y'er_ here, ain'tcha?"

Okesa tapped on his nose as she lashed her bushy tail.

Looking over her shoulder she made a moue down the hall.

"Help me git t'rock outta t'hall for t'kids see an' pitch 'nother fit, neh?"

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Down the path and through the open gate, Chihiro ran blindly.

She came up short on the stone flag stones of the dark garden.

The fat yellow moon hung over the top gable of the primary shrine complex.

Inside flickering blue light writhed against the opaque paper in the sliding door.

It spilled through a crack.

Cascading across the dark veranda making the polished wood look like water.

Light ringed the hedges and trees in bright sharp edges.

Glinting off the black reflecting pool to her right.

The water looked unfathomable it was so very black.

She shied with a fearful gasp as the blue light abruptly extinguished. Feeling like an intruder, the skin between her shoulder blades crawled uncomfortably as Chihiro picked her way through the dark. Clumsily she kicked off her spider silk zori, clambering up onto the veranda. The wood steps creaked and snapped, making her cringe and fluster as she crept through the crack in the slider, hesitating on the edge of the tatami as she tried to see in the dark.

Slowly her eyes adjusted as she stared up at the ceiling.

Again the smooth wood of the coffered ceiling gleamed as if wet, brimming with shadows as if each recessed square held an unfathomable pool like the pond out back. Dark lanterns hung in neat rows from the top edges of the adjacent walls as if waiting to pass under the wide but short indigo curtain hanging down to partition the ceiling of the last quarter of the room. A massive rice rope ran the length of its top hem. It was festooned with folded lengths of paper and thin tassels of more rice rope. Blue silk banners hung like waterfalls on the far wall, fading away to pure white at the floor. Chihiro blinked because she could smell the sweet green scent of the freshly cut sasaki leaves placed in two wall sconces decorated with red ribbon tassles.

A short sword like the one tucked into her obi hung from the right.

A wreath of rice rope hung from the left.

Between them loomed an enormous altar at once austere and gorgeous.

The beautiful grain of the wood and the greened bronze fastenings oozed time.

It leaned out of the dark impossibly large for the medium sized room.

On the shelf at the foot of the closed doors was a massive mirror.

Her ears pricked as in the distance she could hear women arguing heatedly. They were speaking in what sounded like Russian. Chihiro gasped, knocking back against the doorframe as another slider to the left snicked open. In peered an older woman with a tight face to match the tight bun perched atop her head like a pin-cushion. Her straw-colored hair was shot with silver and her brown eyes were fierce behind gold rimmed glasses. She frowned at shrewishly as Kazue limped into the room and shut the slider in her face. The mirrors surface winked like an eye as sparks hissed in the thick shadows. It reflected Kazue's face as it emerged from the dark like a ghost. Illuminated by flickering lick of yellow fire, her gray eyes glittered eerily. She knelt in front of the altar to light the red floor lanterns positioned to its right and left like guards.

The buttery mortal light felt warm on Chihiro's face.

Slowly it filled the room, making it feel less imposing.

Chihiro blinked; gawking at the big taiko drum to her left she hadn't seen. Two more drums medium and small stood at its front and back. To their right, in the dead center of the shrine, Aki was flattened to the floor. Again she startled against the door frame, making the slider rattle as movement flashed in her peripheral vision. It was Suzume. The fox was lurking in the far right corner of the room opposite her. Though his face was guarded his troubled gold eyes never left the fox woman. Aki's folded hands were flat on the ground pillowing her forehead. She was vehemently muttering hurried words. It took Chihiro a second to realize she was praying. Sharply Chihiro looked back to the shrine woman as she bowed on the floor in front of the altar.

"H-how d'you know my name!?"

Not pausing for a second Kazue bowed again, pressing her face to the floor.

Finally she sat back on her heels only to close her eyes as if meditating.

As Chihiro opened her mouth to ask again Kazue answered mildly.

"You are famous, dear. Your picture has been on TV many times."

Chihiro blinked only to frown irritably.

Was that sarcasm!?

"My picture doesn't show me with white hair. Because I'm not talking about that name," she floundered, "I'm talking about my _other_ name."

"The one Yubaba gave you? I've read your book, dear."

Again with the dear!

The diminutive was seriously pissing Chihiro off!

Chewing on anger, she struggled to keep her temper.

"Look, I'm really grateful for the fact that you helped us out back there, but do you want to tell me what's going on? I'm not stupid, okay? I'm further into all of this than you can _possibly_ imagine!"

The woman's gaze was frosty as finally she glanced back.

It blew right through her like a gale before it turned aside.

"No. You're not stupid, just extremely immature. But your tutelar (2) seems happy enough to make up for that. That can be dangerous, dear; especially when the hold you have over him is so tenuous. Be careful not to let him run wild."

Chihiro glanced at Suzume as he loosed a low growl.

"I have cut my ties, o-fujo!"

She snorted, glancing at him askance.

"The why does she hold you still, O-kami-sama?"

Suzume's face went black with fury as he looked away. But he didn't bark or snarl in return. Whatever Kazue said must've hit home because he refused to look at either of them, turning his back in a huff. Thoroughly confused, Chihiro wheeled her attention to Kazue. Again as she opened her mouth to speak the woman cut her off. Here the shrine woman grew annoyed.

"Did you really think you were the only one, dear? What a terribly conceited idea. You would think your teacher wouldn't have coddled you so. I would at least have taught you better manners."

Stunned and furious, Chihiro could only stare.

Several things snapped into place as she glared at the woman's back.

Mrs. Nikkou, after all, had a bow and arrow just like Kazue's.

She was way nicer than this lady though.

Thinking about the sunny old woman threw a bucket of water on her anger.

The grief was as automatic as it was problematic.

Chihiro hugged her chest as she fought to remain calm.

Dropping her eyes, she studied her dirty feet.

"My teacher's dead."

Chihiro pronounced that fact quietly for Suzume's sake.

She was surprised by how calm she was as she continued to explain.

"Sorry if I'm not following whatever the etiquette is expected in these situations. Sorry if I don't measure up to your standards. I wasn't born into _this_. I didn't choose this either. It chose me. My parent's are atheists so I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants through all of this religious stuff. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I really don't have a clue what I'm doing most of the time because I've only been awake for about six months. _A lot_ has happened in those six months."

Kazue opened her eyes only to blink.

Chihiro fidgeted awkwardly in the long silence that followed.

The shrine woman sounded shocked when she next spoke.

Her deep voice was a bit hoarse.

"I see. That explains a great many things."

Here Chihiro hesitated, not sure what she was asking.

"What did you mean when you said you'd seen me?"

Still seated, Kazue slowly turned in place only to frown up at her as if worried.

"It is not fitting to speak ill of the dead, dear. But you leave me wondering if in your time together your teacher told you anything at all?"

Solemnly she put a finger between her eyes, gazing at her mysteriously.

"I saw you the same way I saw him."

Chihiro blinked as the bell in her heart rang resoundingly.

"H-him?"

With slow graceful movements Kazue motioned toward the ruined restaurant.

"The dragon that lived here for a short while. I knew him for what he was the moment I saw him. I also knew what his coming would mean for the others I had gathered here."

"Others!?" Chihiro squeaked.

Kazue nodded slowly as her lips drew into a grave line.

"My _special_ students."

Chihiro jolted as she realized Kazue was talking about Haku's friends.

It took her a second to remember how to speak.

She was so stunned she didn't know what to say.

 _"You knew!?_ _You knew what was going to happen!?"_

"No, dear. And that is our curse."

Standing with great difficulty, pain twisted Kazue's face.

"We can only know some things, dear. No matter how hard we try, even if you bring many of us together in one place, we can never know something completely."

Her pale eyes grew haunted as she stared away at nothing.

Here she whispered beneath her breath as if terribly afraid.

"I saw them die; my _special_ students. But I knew if I was able to make him stay he would save them somehow."

Her sharpness faded as she nervously swept a hand over her perfect hair.

"I have seen many things, dear; and _none_ of them make sense in the moment. Often they only make sense when it's too late. But sometimes when the Gods of fate are with us we do have a chance to change things for the better."

Here she gazed down at Aki, growing thin with worry.

"This is another of our gifts. Watch closely. Perhaps you'll learn something."

Kazue limped around to clap her hands twice before bowing to the altar. Then she leaned forward to open the doors behind the mirror. It was just a crack; just enough for the chill of magic to breath through the room. The scar on her thigh tingled unnervingly. Hugging her stomach, Chihiro shivered as an eerie charge gathered in the air. It crackled like impending lightning as Kazue picked up a wand capped by a cascading shower of pale white paper (2). Giving it a flick the papers rustled and hissed.

Chihiro flinched at the sound. So did Aki and Suzume.

It touched like an electric shock!

"W-what are you doing, o-fujo!?"

Suzume barked as he whirled, looking on in apprehension.

The shrine woman's eyes, however, never left the fox woman.

"Peace, O-kami-sama. I will not hurt her."

Again Kazue flicked her wand over Aki's head, looking on cautiously.

Chihiro's insides shivered and scrambled as it flicked back and forth.

"I have seen this one just as I saw you, O-kami-sama. She knows something very important but her mind is almost lost. I will help her focus."

The shrine woman's steely eyes went sharp as her attention grew intense.

Faster and faster it swished back and forth.

Aki twitched and sighed as she swayed from side to side beneath the wand.

Until finally Kazue whipped the wand high over her head.

In the same moment she stomped her foot and loosed a stunning shout.

The hollow floor vibrated like a drum, making the entire room shake.

With an ecstatic gasp Aki lurched back onto her heels.

Her muttering silenced as her gold eyes locked onto the mirror behind Kazue.

Panting quietly, Kazue slowly limped to the side and lowered the wand.

Bent with effort, she spoke gently to the fox woman as if she was a child.

"Aki, dear; will you tell me what you see?"

The fox woman's face twisted with terror as she shrank from the mirror.

 _"F-fire!_ _Mother, I see fire!"_

Bells rang, sweet and calming. Kazue produced a cluster of gold bells on a small stick decorated with sumptuous gold and red fabric (3). Chihiro frowned as she recognized the thing. She'd seen Mrs. Nikkou with something similar at some point in time. Holding the padded handle Kazue jostled them carefully, lulling the fox woman with the sound. Aki's face went slack as her eyelids drooped.

"There is no fire, Aki, dear. Don't worry. Everything is fine."

Again the shrine woman flicked her wand, rustling the streamers ever so slightly.

"Tell me about the train, Aki. What did you see?"

"Trains?"

Aki's attention pricked as she lifted her head.

"I saw the ghost train go through Shitamachi from Uguisudani."

Sucking in a breath, Chihiro held it, falling silent as she hung on every word.

Because premonition was building, she could feel it humming in her veins.

Something important was about to happen.

The anticipation was killing!

Aki blinked as the clouds in her eyes cleared.

"There were kami on the train… Not humans, but kami."

Again Kazue began to flick her wand like a long-winded metronome.

Creeping forward a step, she was almost leaning over the fox woman now.

"Where were they going, Aki dear?"

Aki pointed dreamily.

Chihiro had no idea what direction it was.

"They took the Nakasendō way (4)."

All too soon horror crept into Aki's eyes as she fought the thrall of the mirror.

"I saw them, mother! _I saw the spiders on the train!"_

Chihiro stood bolt upright as the stupid bell in her chest rang till her bones rattled.

Again Kazue soothed her with bells, staring at the fox woman in pity.

"Don't worry, dear Aki. There are no spiders here."

Chihiro cringed from the lie.

There was a spider right outside and Kazue knew it!

 _"Enough!"_

Suzume barked, startling the shrine woman into dropping her wand. Kazue recoiled, knocking into the wall with a gasp as the sliding doors ripped open. Chihiro scrambled aside, narrowly missing being smashed by one as it whizzed by. Suzume plucked Aki from the ground, ushering her out onto the flag stones of the dark. Chihiro scrambled to follow only to come up short on the edge of the veranda.

She watched in dismay as Aki stared at Suzume uncomprehending.

Still lost in the fog, the fox woman vacillated before returning to him uncertainly.

He growled angrily, giving her a solid push away from the shrine.

"No! Go, fox child! I will not see you used any further!"

From her vantage point Chihiro caught sight of the God children as they hesitated at the back gate. Gohan was still holding his trashcan shield as Sumirei hissed beneath her breath, waving so vigorously her clattering bracelets gave them away.

" _Psst!_ Aki! Over here, Aki!"

Again the clouds in the fox woman's eyes cleared as she saw the children. She sprinted to the gate only to come up short even as the rat and badger pulled and hauled on her arms. Throwing a forlorn glance over her shoulder Aki stared for a long moment at Suzume. Her gold eyes burned like foxfires in the dark as she bobbed her head.

"Goodbye, brother mine."

Then she was gone, herding the God children into shadows.

Chihiro's inside tightened with worry as Suzume took a step after her.

He was trembling visibly.

"Peace, O-kami-sama. The Uenokami will look after her as she looks after them. I will make sure all are fed well so they may stay in this world."

Chihiro shrank from Kazue as she limped out onto the veranda leaning heavily on a delicate mahogany cane. Suzume tightened his hands into fists at his side, still looking after the fox woman as he spat hoarse distraught words.

"How can I possibly be at peace knowing she is in such a _terrible_ place as this!?"

"There are worse places, O-kami-sama."

Kazue returned mildly.

"Besides, they say a child's love can heal all wounds."

Chihiro cringed in horror because that was _not_ what the fox needed to hear!

Kazue sighed gustily as Suzume fled.

"This is exactly what I mean when I say he's running wild, dear."

"He's a _person_ not a pet!" Chihiro bit back furiously.

Scrambled down the veranda steps still wringing Suzume's flute she shoved her feet into the spider silk zori.

"He's not a person, dear."

Something in Kazue's voice brought her up short.

Looking up at the shrine she found the strange woman staring down at her grimly.

She looked sorry; really, really sorry.

"He's a channel, just like that flute. The same can be said for you and I, dear. That is why we have been called. We are all a means to an end. We are tools to be used and sacrificed in service of protecting human life."

Stunned and outraged, Chihiro stared at the woman for a blank moment.

She wasn't sure she understood what Kazue was saying.

If she did understand then she didn't agree at all.

In fact, Chihiro was quite sure she didn't agree.

Tools were expendable.

Any life, kami or human, wasn't.

 _"Bullshit!"_ She swore vehemently.

Whirling away Chihiro forgot the woman and sprinted after Suzume.

She didn't have to go far. Beyond the back gate she found him stalking in aggravated circles at the heart of the forest of fox statues as if unsure of where to go. Again her throat closed with painful grief as she watched him pace like a trapped animal. As she reached out to stop him he shrank from her touch, coming up short and turning his back as he threw out a warning hand. Chihiro swallowed with difficulty. She knew better than to say anything. Slowly circling, she came to stand at his feet without looking.

With her index finger she caught the first tear to roll down her cheek.

Reaching up she gently smoothed this over his split lip.

The fox gasped, catching her wrist in his cold hand. But his grip was gentle. As his hand began to shake she looked up at him. Though his lip wasn't split anymore he was staring at her with a haunted expression. At a loss for what to do she offered him his flute. He took it mutely, secreting it away into the front fold of his kimono. Then he was staring at her again. One more his face broke on the strength of the despair smoldering in his hollow gold eyes. As he gritted his sharp, sharp teeth pain bent him over her until he crumbled into her arms. Chihiro flinched as her knees knocked against the stone painfully.

"Have you _any_ idea how long it has been since I have seen another _kitsune!?_ Never in a thousand years did I think to be called _brother_ again!"

Suzume choked on the words in a miserable hush.

Stunned, Chihiro didn't know what to say.

She thought he'd be happy about that.

Wasn't that a good thing?

"I truly though I was the last fox! I though my children would be the last in all of Yamato, not just Izu! But now that I see what this _world_ has made of us!? Now that I see what _we_ have made of each other!? I worry not for just the foxes. I worry for all kami for I fear there is no hope for _any_ of us!"

She held him as he all but curled up in her lap as he had earlier that morning.

At a loss for what to so she smoothed his hair, trying to offer him comfort.

"Please, Chihiro!"

Her insides sang with unhappiness as he begged her quietly.

"Please, let us go home now!? _I have seen enough!"_

Chihiro had seen enough too; more than enough.

But she'd also found what she came for.

Knowledge was a terrible thing.

It cost dearly.

Chihiro blinked as Kuromi appeared beside them silent as a shadow. She poured wordless gratitude through her eyes as the spider reached for the fox. Suzume didn't resist as Kuromi hauled him up like he didn't weigh a thing. She could've carried him all the way back to Izu without breaking a sweat. Even though she wasn't really helping, Chihiro slung one of his arms over her shoulder just to keep in contact with him. As if asleep on his feet the fox followed in complete silence they climbed the stone steps, leaving the grotto behind. Picking their way through the scorched stone and wood littering the narrow passage they emerged back into the empty avenues of Ueno Park.

For some reason Chihiro turned toward the ruins of the restaurant.

Strange that they should end up here.

They had come full circle.

That felt right for some reason.

Then she saw it; the thing she was looking for.

A door listed against the side of the rubble.

I didn't even have a frame.

That didn't matter.

Pulling the kami in her wake she headed for the door.

Breaking ahead of them she pulled the tile from her obi.

Slapping it onto the surface of the door she turned the knob.

It hauled open at her command like any door.

And her insides rang with relief as the distant smell of sulfur rolled through.

Here, however, she came up short as she caught sight of Haku. He was kneeling in front of the door bowed over clenched fists as if sitting vigil. His head jerked up, revealing his stunned white face from beneath the short fringe of his inky blue black hair. Bright in the shadows, his jade eyes reflected the light like mirrors. A wind soaked with the scent of rain hit her full in the face as he jolted upright. It knocked her off balance as it surged through the doorway. Before she could stumble backwards he caught her by the front of the green kimono and hauled her through. Chihiro squeaked as her feet left the floor. He hoisted her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. Before anyone, including her, could object he carried her off in a burst of speed that set her eyes watering.

Dizzy and bewildered, she clung to him as she lost track of up and down.

Floor, wall or ceiling, it didn't matter what she was looking at.

Because they were all home and that's all that mattered.

Haku tipped her around into his arms as she slipped off his shoulder.

A door slammed loudly only to become distant as they shot by.

Her knees buckled as finally her feet touched the ground.

As she slipped downward his arm locked around her waist like a vice.

He pulled her back up, crushing her body against his.

His other hand cradled her neck, fingers tangling in her hair.

They tightened painfully but she didn't care.

She didn't care about anything but the heat of his skin on hers.

She could feel his heart furiously hammering against her stomach.

His quick breath blew hot and fast against her ear.

His burning cheek was slick with sweat as it slid against hers.

The smell of rain soaked her through until she dissolved.

Winding her arms around his neck she burst into tears.

Because all at once she saw again inside her head what she had seen!

She didn't want to see it! _She didn't want to see it!_

She didn't want to see his blood on her hands!

It was redder than red in her mind's eye; thick and viscous between her fingers.

She didn't want to taste it on her lips!

It tasted like cold copper making her want to claw at her tongue.

She didn't want to feel the weight of his lifeless body on her knees!

It was stunningly heavy; impossible to move.

The buzz of flies hummed in her ears; crawling on her skin.

At once she was sick to her stomach trapped inside hell itself.

Ripping away, Chihiro fell. No water this time. No Suzume either. Numbly she felt her head bounce off the floor. A bright explosion of a very different kind bloomed at the peripheries of her vision. At once slow and sluggish, she couldn't hear anything but dull throbbing inside her ears as she fought the hands pulling at her. She scrambled on hands and knees to the low window sill as the sickness escaped her stomach, pouring up her throat. Pushing open the window she half spilled out. Her hands sank into the snow piled there as she threw up. Clinging to the sharp blue tiles she heaved even after her stomach was empty.

Gasping for air and shaking violently, she sat back onto her heels.

But she kept tipping backwards as a loud ringing invaded her ears.

For once it wasn't that stupid, stupid bell.

Up and down got confused again leaving her thoroughly annoyed.

Fed up with everything Chihiro passed out.

* * *

 **NOTES:**

(1) A tutelary also called tutelar is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture or occupation. Both tutelary and tutelar can be used as either a noun or an adjective. An analogous concept in Christianity is the patron saint, or to a lesser degree guardian angel. One type of tutelary deity is the "genius," the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death.

(2) An Ōnusa (大幣?) or simply nusa (幣?) is a wooden wand used in Shinto rituals. It is decorated with many shide (zig-zagging paper streamers). When the shide are attached to a hexagonal or octagonal staff, it can be also called haraegushi (祓串?). It is waved left and right during purification rituals.

(3) Suzu (鈴?) is a round and hollow Japanese Shinto Bell that contains pellets that sound when agitated. Suzu come in many sizes, ranging from tiny ones on good luck charms (called omamori (お守り?)) to large ones at shrine entrances. At Shinto shrines, large Suzu drape over entrances, as it is said that ringing them calls kami, allowing one to acquire positive power and authority, while repelling evil. Handheld clustered Suzu are used musically at Shinto ceremonies.

(4) The Nakasendō (中山道?), also called the Kisokaidō (木曾街道?),[1] was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 stations between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi, Kōzuke, Shinano, Mino and Ōmi provinces. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu and Shiga, with a total distance of approximately 534 km (332 mi). Unlike the coastal Tōkaidō, the Nakasendō traveled inland, hence its name, which can be translated as "central mountain route" (as opposed to the Tōkaidō, which roughly meant "eastern sea route"). Because it was such a well-developed road, many famous persons, including the haiku master Matsuo Bashō, traveled the road. Many people preferred traveling along the Nakasendō because it did not require travelers to ford any rivers.


	11. Chapter 11

**HAKU**

His brow ached as his furrowed frown pulled his skin into deep furrows.

Cold sweat beaded on his upper lip.

It trickled down his spine making every inch of his body clammy with worry.

How he hated this room.

Hated the mural at his back; hated the footprints burned into floor and walls.

Hated the doorway that betrayed he and his family.

How he _hated_ that had been forced to pass through it once more!

Still, he could not bring himself to carry her somewhere for fear of her health. She was so very light it terrified him. Gently, so very gently his hands shook, he had laid her out on top the thick quilt as Onsen flustered in the rafters above his head. The house creaked and shuddered because Chihiro was paler than pale. Her face was turned away from him, silver hair plastered to her cheek. A wicked bruise was beginning to swell on her right temple where she had hit her head on the floor. His insides surged and churned in horror as he took in her garments. The obi and tie wound round her waist was made of pure spider silk! So were the sandals on her dirty bruised feet. Just seeing the nubbly cream colored substance brought back horrible memories.

Haku almost flew from the room to wake Natsumi.

The sounds of Chihiro's screams still disturbed him beyond words.

How the rest of the house had not woken was beyond him.

Worse still was the short sword protruding from the gap at the front of her obi. He ground his teeth as the sapphire eyes of the dragons glittered, watching him eerily. He had seen this knife before in the shrine complex in Kumomi. How it had come into Chihiro's possession was beyond him. How Onsen had become flooded with salt water and the second floor full of boulders was also beyond Haku.

Gritting his teeth Haku gingerly eased the scabbard free.

Only to dislodge something else from her obi.

It caught the buzzing electric bulb, flashing light in his eyes.

Haku gasped. His back his the wall as he found himself on his feet across the room. The bulb overhead swung in the wind of his disquiet sending shadows chasing. Heart throbbing in his ears, Haku forced himself to return on shaking legs. From the corners of his eyes he stared askance at Sengen's mirror. It rested on Chihiro's breast right above her heart. Scrambling out of his jacket he caught up the horrid thing, muffling it and the sheathed sword in the thick canvas fabric. These he threw cast across the room with violence. To his chagrin they skittered loudly across the floor as if hissing.

Again his insides went cold as the swinging light made blue glint at her throat.

Haku choked in horror as he found Sengen's jewel around her neck.

His twitching hands hovered inches from it.

But he could not bring himself to touch it thought he wanted it gone!

His hair and clothes billowed in the strength of his dismay.

 _What in the name of the Gods had happened this night!?_

"Here."

Haku startled violently, glancing up at Kuromi as she offered a glass of water. In another pair of hands she held out a wash cloth and bowl of water. Seeing the spider dimmed his sight and set his insides raging. At once her long hair whipped in the wind of his fury as he stabbed a finger at the door.

"Get out!" Haku commanded under his breath.

The spider's red eyes darted to Chihiro's face as she stirred.

As Haku's attention wheeled to her Kuromi retreated.

But not before depositing the water, bowl, and towel beside him.

"Haku?" Chihiro murmured faintly, worming her hand against the blanket.

At once he caught it up, earnestly pressing her fingers to his lips.

"Here, dear one. I am here."

She winced, bringing her other hand to her forehead. Dunking the cloth in the bowl, he found the water ice cold. Wring it out he gently wiped it over her face before carefully covering the swelling knot at her temple. Chihiro's eyes fluttered as he did.

"C-can I have some water?"

Silently praising the spider he had just cursed, Haku eased Chihiro up off the futon and brought the glass to her lips. She drank a few sips with a grimace before turning in his arms to pillow her head I the crook of his elbow. His heart squeezed to the point of pain as one of her arms wrapped around his side, closing over the flannel shirt Amano had gifted him. Pulling her closer he bent to rest his lips on the crown of her head, breathing in the smell of her hair with each shaking breath.

As Haku held her his throat closed in agony.

A burn blurred his eyes.

And he began to shake; because he had been so very frightened.

He was still frightened; terrified by the unknown of all that had happened.

"Haku," She murmured distantly, "What is the Nakasendō way?"

He blinked as the familiar name pulled him into another place and time.

It kindled old memories he had nearly forgotten.

How she had come across such a thing he did not know.

Anxious to please her, he quickly offered the knowledge.

"Long ago there were only five roads in all of Yamato. These connected Heian Kyo with Edo and everything in between. After humans ceased to use these roads they returned to the Gods. I heard Yubaba once say that is why she chose to build her bath house in the location she did. It is right on one of these five routes: the Nakasendō way."

Chihiro went bolt still in his arms.

Her hands tightened on his shirt until they were fists.

Trying to offer her comfort Haku stroked her face only to hiss, snatching back his hand from a cold stabbing sting. Again he recoiled, sitting back hard clutching his hand, forced to rudely drop her on the futon as his fingers brushed the jewel at her throat. She stared at him in utter confusion as she sprawled on the edge, reaching for him only to shrink as he all but shouted in a voice that cracked and pitch up on the peak of terror.

"Take _that_ off! Please, Chihiro, _take that off!_ "

It took her a second to understand as he pointed madly at her throat. Hauling the jewel over her head she threw it aside, holding up her empty hand as proof. Still he pointed, loosing all sense of propriety in the grip of fear.

"And the s-spider silk! I cannot abide by the touch of it!"

Hastily she ripped at the obi and its tie, tossing the wide width of fabric and her sandals once she had freed herself from their grip. Kubi's green kimono parted, falling open as she was reaching for him once more, desperately appealing to him with hands and stricken eyes as if she could not speak. Forgetting the numb ache in his hand Haku spilled forward into her arms. Together they knocked back onto the futon; tangling their limbs in their haste to be closer. Still, she did not speak. Instead she answered with her mouth in another way.

Onsen fled the room in surprise.

And the electric light winked out leaving only the moon spilling in the window.

Haku's insides sang with exquisite sensation as she caught his lips with hers. Slow and warm and soft; his head spun as her kiss set him floating. At once the heat she inspired in him earlier ignited. It surged through his veins to smolder deep at the center of his body. Obediently Haku rolled onto his back as she pushed on his chest, ardently pursued him backwards into the pillows. As her pinned him there with the warm delicious weight of her body he surrendered the tears he had been withholding. The agony and the rapture at war inside the frail cage of his body welled through his eyes. Oh, terrible haunting human emotion! These mercurial fleeting things set him adrift; they left him utterly vulnerable and at her command.

He would have obliged her with anything in that moment.

This body; this heart; his very breath; all were hers.

Her hot breath broke on his face, the soft curtain of her hair ticking as it fell around them. Lifting his chin he let her take his tears. They soaked Chihiro's lips as she seized his face, kissing his eyes, the tip of his nose, and his cheeks. She tasted of salt as she returned for his lips. Chihiro's breath caught in her throat as she gasped against his mouth, arching against him and sending a thrill of electric anticipation seizing his middle. Because his hands had found their way inside her garment; they skated up and down the soft skin of her back, stroking between her shoulder blades. Opening his eyes Haku gazed up at her adoringly; watched her lovely eyes flutter as she tossed her head, twitching and sighing with every stroke of his fingers. Fraught and occupied by other sensations, she closed her hands on the front of his shirt, pulling as she rocked back and worth. Absently her fumbled with the buttons, sending him shying with a sharp intake of breath at the sheer intensity of the sensation her cold fingers traced against his skin.

Her fingers ghosted across the scars on his stomach were the Forgotten cut him.

In the same moment his hand roved across the hand-shaped burn on her thigh.

They flinched in unison, eyes flying open as their locked. Her brow knotted as she turned her disturbed gaze to his newest scars. So many things passed wordlessly through her gaze as she stared at him only to bite her lip as a muscled jumped in the back of her jaw. Terrible, wonderful, difficult things! Haku's insides cooled as her pale eyes turned distant again. But the adoration in her gaze; the vehement compassion; the horror and the worry; oh, it could have turned him to dust!

He shivered as carefully she eased the fabric of his shirt past the points of his shoulders, freeing him from the garment entirely, leaving it beneath them. With trembling hands she ran her fingers back up his bare arms to trace each of the spider bites with her fingers. Swallowing with difficulty as the pinch of agony won over desire to twinge in his throat, Haku closed his eyes and turned his face into the pillows, letting her look at him, letting her touch him even as he drew in a sharp beleaguered breath as the tips of her fingers skated down the side of his neck where the bites were worst.

How frightful it was to be so very exposed.

But just as powerful as the urge to hide was his desire to be known by her.

Though it was an idiot thought, Haku feared she might find him ugly. Eyes still closed, wordlessly he begged her to prove him wrong. Gently he took his hands from the tops of her thighs to catch her elbows, urging her to return. Breathing a shuddering breath he shivered as the soft burning press of her chest slide across his. His eyes fluttered open as she shifted her weight to the side. Her hair spilled across his chest and his cheek knocked against the silver crown of her head as Chihiro lowered her lips to kiss the marks on his neck.

Arching back against the futon he gasped as her mouth grazed the curve of his shoulder. Locking his arm around her waist he clung to her as she moved lower, tracing her lips across the flat plane of his pectoral before closing over the hard point she uncovered there. Snatching back his hands Haku cried out as he seized the edges of the futon, clutching the thick material in his fists as explosions of pleasure erupted like light behind his clenched eyelids. Again he choked on a shout as her lips went rouge, whispering down the hard wall of his stomach. Such a thrill of desire surged through his insides as her hands found the belt and the button of his pants.

Here Chihiro began to struggle as she had before.

She had no luck with buttons.

Giggling in frustration she tugged and pulled on the fastener only to be thwarted.

Sitting up against her Haku caught her laughter with his lips. She forgot the button even as he pulled it loose, trembling in his hands slide up her sides, drawing together where his scale still hung on a cord between her small lovely breasts, teasing past the soft swells only to part the gaping kimono. The silk fabric slid off her shoulders, leaving her naked and shivering beside him. Leaning into her Haku caught her lips, kissing her over and over while holding her in the circle of his arms and bowing her backwards. She followed gladly as gently he eased her back onto the futon, continuing to caress her skin with his mouth, nipping at her collar bone only to earn himself a playful slap on the back of his head as she squealed and giggled.

He left her for a moment only to slip out of his pants. Then he joined her under the thick quilted covers as she held them up. This she pulled over their heads, burrowing into him, molding herself into the crooks and bends of his body as he wrapped himself around her and tucked her head under his chin. They heaved a communal sigh as their warmth mingled, trapped beneath the heavy quilt. Again and again he kissed the crown of her head, stroking her hair and shoulder as Chihiro's hot breath broke against the skin of his chest until goose bumps broke out over his flesh. He could have been content just with the slide of her bare skin against his. Just to feel the gentle thud of her heart against the wall of his chest; to feel her breath soft and slow against his skin. This was more than enough.

Rest, however, did not find them.

Chihiro went rigid beside him as her arms tightened.

He could hear the thoughts tumbling around inside her head.

How he hated himself for breaking the silence.

Intuitively Haku knew something terrible had happened.

"Where did you go, dear one?"

He breathed desolately against crown of her head, at once furious and relieved.

"Uguisudani Station. And then Ueno Park."

She whispered back in a rush as if she could not bear to withhold it any longer.

Haku jolted as the covered fluttered and lifted in a blast of frozen air. He struggled with that for a long moment for it was too great to absorb all at once. Horror made him sick and cold to the core of his bones. Worse was the furious outrage that flooded in its wake. He tried not to be angry. He did not want to be angry, not holding her so close to him. All the same, it was too much, and the terrible emotion drove a wedge between them.

Taking back his arms he rolled away.

Throwing back the covers Haku perched on the edges of the futon.

He almost got up and fled the room.

But he could not bring himself to leave her.

"H-Haku!"

He shrugged away from her touch as she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Why did you leave me _again_?! Why did you not take me with you?!"

He choked through his gritted teeth.

She hushed back just as desolate.

"There wasn't time."

Haku despised himself for being so petty.

Still, the resentful words spilled from his lips against his will.

"There was time enough for you to seek _his_ attendance!"

Jealousy burned in his veins as he remembered the blue jewel around her throat.

He could not resist the horrible doubts it planted like poison in his heart.

Because beneath the covetous emotion lurked terrible, terrible fear.

Fear that his rival still held sway over her.

Hidé was a God now. Haku was not.

"That's not what happened, Haku, and you know it!"

Chihiro hissed beneath her breath; more than angry now.

Again he flinched as her hands returned.

They burned against his skin.

Bowing his face into his hands Haku shivered violently.

"No, Chihiro; I do not know anything and that _terrifies_ me, dear one! It frightens me so much I cannot _bear_ it! I returned home to find our home flooded with salt water and beaten with stones and you gone without a word! Gone so far my compass swung so slowly I feared you had gone into the spirit world and that I would _never_ find you again!"

He clutched her hands as she folded her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Haku!" She choked beneath her breath in thin panic, "I didn't know what else to do! It all happened so fast!"

The words poured from him in a hoarse rush as he scrambled to explain.

"I am sorry also, Chihiro. I do not intend to be cruel or jealous, dear one. It is just that I _do not_ know how to feel what I am feeling now!"

All at once he was begging.

"Please, dear one…! You cannot leave me as you did this night ever again…! Give me a word! Give me a sign of some kind because when you go my _entire_ world goes with you!"

He did not resist as she pulled him backwards, towing him under the covers and into her arms. He shivered violently once more but not from cold as he pillowed his head above her breast. Her heart was racing inside her chest as she tightened her arms around him, whispering against his forehead as if desperate to please him.

"I promise! I promise, okay?"

But she could not hide the anxiety in her voice.

It cut him deeply.

Eyes staring into the dark beneath the covers Haku found her face with his hand.

His fingers froze on her cheeks as they found more tears.

"What is it, Chihiro?!"

He did not expect her heated reply.

"I'm an idiot, that's what's wrong! I looked into that _stupid fucking mirror!_ "

Haku went perfectly still as she snuffled loudly, dashing a hand at her face as she angrily wiped away the tears he had found there. As loathe as he was to speak, even as premonition cautioned him to stay silent, Haku could not let this revelation remain unquestioned. He regretted the words even as he whispered them.

"W-what did you see, Chihiro?"

 _"A whole bunch of shit that didn't make any sense!"_

Haku flinched as she all but shouted in his ear.

Heaving a gusty sigh she continued in a rush at a less painful decibel.

"I just wanted to see if Lin and Kiri were alive! That's all I wanted! Sengen got _supremely_ pissed at me for looking. I _knew_ she would but I looked all the same! Hidé intervened otherwise she probably would've drowned me. He gave me all that stuff. I don't know what he was talking about but he said it would even things out. But then I did manage to find something in the mess that Sengen dumped inside my head. I saw the shrine in Ueno Park. I saw a fox in red armor with a gold wheel painted on it in the shrine next to the restaurant."

Stunned, trying to take all of this in, Haku blinked and blinked some more

"Aki?!"

Chihiro shifted, sitting up on her elbow.

Tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked down at him in surprise.

"You _know_ her?"

He nodded shakily, wilting in wild relief knowing the half-fox was alive.

"She is a soldier from Shitamachi. I am glad to hear she lives."

Chihiro's frown deepened as she gritted her teeth, reluctant to tell what came next.

"Um… She's alive but she kinda went nuts."

Haku's mouth fell open as shocked dismay knocked him senseless.

"W-what?!"

Chihiro settled back onto the futon, staring up at the dark ceiling.

Again her brows drew together as her pale eyes went distant.

"Gohan said she lost it because of what happened in the caverns."

She flinched as he sat up over her making a wind gust through the room.

"You have seen the children!?"

Chihiro blinked, nodding solemnly and studying his face.

"The kami kids are living in at the Gojo Tenjin shrine. They're taking care of Aki. Kazue said she'd keep them fed so they could stay there."

Again he rocked with surprise.

"Kazue-sensei?!"

She cringed as more wind gusted around, hiding under her hands.

"N-not so windy, okay!?"

Chihiro's face fell as she stared as if shaken by her next revelation.

"She said she always knew what you were and that's why she let you stay."

In a flash Haku remembered the way Kazue-san had looked at him that first day.

His insides chilled at the memory.

Her pale eyes saw far too much.

"Why?" He hushed in utter confusion.

Chihiro continued, sounding just as confused.

"She said it was because you'd take care of her _special_ students some day."

Here Chihiro continued quickly, grabbing his hands.

Again premonition gathered over Haku's head.

Something important was about to happen and he knew not what.

Holding his breath he listed carefully to everything she revealed lest he miss it.

"Kazue's like Mrs. Nikkou. She's the one that keeps the shrine next door to _Le Pichet_. She did something to Aki with this paper-wand-thingy to make her not so crazy for a little bit. Aki said she saw a ghost train go through Shitamachi! She said she saw spiders on it! I think Lin and Kiri are on that train, Haku! Aki said the train took the Nakasendō way!"

At once he was staring away, looking west without realizing it.

He hardly heard Chihiro as she continued to speak in earnest.

"Do you remember those weird trains at Yubaba's bath house, Haku?"

Intuition flooded at his back, propelling his thoughts back into the past.

Yes. Haku remembered them well.

Closing his eyes already he could hear the distant clicky-clack of wheels on rails.

"I always wondered were they came from. I think I know where now!"

He hardly heard Chihiro as she continued in an impassioned rush.

"My mom called me this morning. She wants us to come home tomorrow; just for a little bit. Just so we can spend New Years Day together. It can't be a coincidence!"

Already his thoughts were racing to the west.

To the red gate and the tunnel that led to the clock tower.

His insides scrambled with disquiet as he remembered his past impassioned words.

He had vowed never to return to the Clock Tower Town.

It appeared fate was keen to make him a liar.

Blinking rapidly, Haku realized Chihiro had fallen silent. Glancing down, he found she had turned her face away. Moonlight spilled across her pillow, catching strands of her silver hair and illuminating pale eyes. They were stricken with horror; so very, very far again terror surged in his chest. He could barely speak for the strength of it. It felt as if already she was gone from their bed. Gone to the place she was seeing that he could not follow her. The thought of loosing her again pushed him to the edge of madness.

"What is it, dear one?! _Tell me what is wrong!"_

Haku begged in a weak whisper as again his throat closed, robbing him of further words of supplication. All at once she was looking at him rather than through him. Her face tightened with lines of age and worry that _did_ _not_ suit her! Desperate to make them go away, desperate keep her with him, he stroked a gentle hand over her face. She fled the touch, rolling against him, burrowing against his chest, hiding her face between the covers and his skin as he settled beside her. At a loss Haku tightened his arms around her as she began to shake violently.

"I… I think I saw you in the mirror...!"

His insides seized with misery as she uttered the words in a quaking sob.

"I think I saw you! _You were dead!"_

Ah. So that was it.

Haku was surprised the calm that found him in that moment.

Quietly it flowed through him like a warm breeze that left him still and centered.

But he had been foretold his death too many times now to be shocked.

If anything it was a relief to know it was not something new to content with.

All he had left was to offer the truth.

He could not think of any other way to comfort her.

"When first I lost you, Chihiro, I journeyed with Okesa to see an oracle in the God city beneath Asakusa thinking to learn some way to break Sengen's curse. I did not find what it was I sought. Instead I was given an ill omen. The horrid creature there told me I am to die at the hands of Garuda."

Chihiro started violently, surfacing to glare with a tear streaked face.

"Who is Garuda!?"

She whispered furiously as if ready to go and kill him herself.

It was a terrible thing to inspire a smile.

All the same his lips twitched

"Garuda is dead, Chihiro. And all of this is nonsense."

He planted a kiss on her forehead, settling beside her suddenly exhausted.

Again he was stroking her hair, kissing and kissing again the crown of her head.

"Do not put your faith in prophesy, dear one. The Gods of fate are far too fickle to be pinned down by such flimsy promises."

Still she was struggling, rattling with all kinds of dark and terrible thoughts.

"But I saw…!"

"Enough, Chihiro," Haku soothed as he put a finger on her lips, "Enough."

As he took back his hand she opened her mouth to speak.

There would be no rest for either of them. Not yet.

And it was his turn to answer her without words.

Haku silenced her with a kiss, pinning her there with the weight of his body as his hands surged into her hair. He could taste the salt of her tears as he claimed her mouth, silencing whatever thoughts still troubled her, replacing them with the wordless conversation they had begun earlier. The persuasion of the burning heat of his skin on hers was catching. She surged against him, hooking one of her legs round his waist as the other stroked the back of his thigh with her clutching toes. He shuddered convulsively, dropping his head onto her shoulder with a chocked sigh as she raked her nails up the bare skin of his back.

Clutching the sheets in his hands Haku arched as the sensation bent him backwards, making him rock his hips against her suggestively. Sweat slide between them, making the wall of his chest glide against the hard tracing touch of her small sweet breasts. One of these he found with his mouth. Chihiro drew in a sharp breath clutching his head as he swirled and circled his tongue. All the while he grinned, thinking of peaches. Breathing hard and fast against his neck as he gently positioned himself between the soft skin of her thighs, Chihiro tangled her hands against his shoulders as if unsure what to do with them. Anticipating what they were practicing with every evocative move Chihiro followed the slow swaying of his body against hers. As he gazed at her through the dark he found her eyes and teeth clenched against the power of what she was feeling.

Oh, how he wanted her as he looked at her in that moment.

Wanted her with such ardence his very bones ached!

What a rare and exquisite pain.

It was entirely unique; so completely human.

How he wanted the solace of her body.

How he craved this contact that proved wordlessly how much she loved him.

It was in this very room that he had first learned the how of such things.

Chihiro had been the one to show him all the secrets of his human form.

But she had also revealed to him the consequences as well.

Again they were being extremely imprudent.

Last night Chihiro did not care. Now neither did Haku.

Children were a blessing.

He could not think of a better place to raise a child.

Among the Gods and beneath Onsen's roof.

Bracing his hands on the futon, Haku caught her lips with his as slowly; ever so slowly he pressed himself against the heat of that secret mysterious place where they had mingled before. Shaking with restraint as he tried to be gentle, Haku gasped, collapsing against her beneath the shock of glorious singing pleasure as he found his way inside of her. Chihiro cried out as his lips left hers; throwing her arms around his neck as her head tossed back into the pillows. Her ankles knotted at his back, knees clamping against his hips. He buried his face in the hollow of her throat and drove into her in a long unhurried stroke that left them both shaking and struggling to be closer.

But they could go no closer.

The union of their bodies was the limit of his human form.

Forever withheld was what he might have offered Chihiro in the union of his soul.

But he did not mourn the loss of this godly rite.

There were other ways that he could tender these sacred intangibles.

"Speak my name, Chihiro," He entreated in an amorous hush, "My true name, dear one. Let me hear it on your lips so I know that you know the truth of me."

It took her a moment to hear him.

She was so caught up in the conversation of their bodies.

"Kouhaku…"

She spoke his name like a prayer, offering it to him as he kissed her.

"Say it again," he commanded breathlessly, "Speak it aloud so I might never forget the sound of it on your lips."

She gasped as he moved deep inside of her, clinging as she moaned in his ear.

" _Kouhaku!"_

Stars and clouds blew through the inside of his head as he kissed her in that moment; swallowing all the mindless sounds she might have made as he invaded her mouth, soaking her through with the smell and taste of rain until she was drowning beneath him, overwhelmed but the sudden fervor of his driving thrusts. As he had once mastered a river so he mastered her body. Swept away, she trembled in his wake as he showed her the way to pleasure with his every touch. Faster and faster he drove her until in a final moment like a flash of lightning she poured over the edge into seizing fulfillment. As she screamed in ecstasy he chased her in that moment, happily throwing himself over the brink. And he was flying again, soaring through an endless blue sky only to have it swallow him whole as he dissolved into the blinding shivering pleasure

Somehow he found his way back to earth.

Slick with sweat and utterly spent he found her cling to him in the dark.

All he could feel was the furious hammering of her heart.

He threw back the covers to let the air cool their blazing skin.

She rolled into his arms making a pillow out of his bicep.

He folded around her better than any blanket.

His smile curled against her temple.

The whisper of lips tickled her cheek as he planted a kiss there.

Finally, together they found rest.


	12. Chapter 12

**LIN**

 _Clickity-clack. Clickity-clack._

The sound slowly lulled her awake.

Slowly rocking and jostling her from side to side.

Lin opened her eyes.

Pitch black greeted her.

Her face tightened into confusion as she stared at nothing.

She opened and closed her eyes again just to be sure they were open.

Lin had no recollection of how she'd gotten here.

Then remembering punched her in the chest with a cold unfeeling fist.

Lin vaulted upright only to get tangled in whatever was covering her legs. She dumped onto the filthy carpet as panic coursed through her veins like frozen sludge. Cold sweat broke out across her skin as the unfathomable roar of the massive wheel still bellowed in her ears. The sound set every bone in her body rattling with cold crackling terror. She threw herself away from it as if afraid the memory had the power to crush her. Lin scrambled backwards in the dark until the back of her head knocked against the hollow wood paneling of the wall. Folding up on herself she clung to the window sill with her only hand riding the pitching floor as her vision grayed with explosions of light. On the verge of passing out again Lin struggled not to hyperventilate.

As her head emptied all she could hear was that sound.

 _Clickity-clack. Clickity-clack._

Distantly a hoarse hollow whistle sounded.

The chugging rocking rhythm of the room suddenly made sense.

A train! She was on a train!

Lin's senses sharpened as a breeze whistled through from somewhere, betraying the fact that she was moving and quickly too. The air smelled sweet and clean, not at all damp and stale. Distantly she could taste hints of water and green trees. The familiar tang of mountain aromas sent a thrill of anticipation shuddering through her insides. Her only hand tightened on the still as again the floor pitched and rolled. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dark and she could see the dim outline of the tiny compartment. Twin bench seats lined the walls covered in old velvet that stank of cigar smoke and the rot of age. Lin stood only to knock her head on a rusty luggage rack. Sitting down cursing, she rubbed her head with her only hand. Standing again, she turned to the window and tore back the shredded curtains.

Lin stared stupidly at the solid iron shutters.

They were bolted shut, not even budging an inch as she pried at them.

Whirling around she threw herself at the door. Running her hand over the surface she realized there was no handle! Again she pulled and pried at the edge, bracing her leg on the wall and heaving on the frame until she was shaking with exhaustion. Trapped inside the compartment, Lin circled and circled the tiny cell, panting each ragged breath only to throw herself against the door again with a furious snarl only to bounce off the unyielding iron. Retreating to the farthest corner of her prison Lin hugged her knees and buried her face in the filthy fabric of her sleeve.

All at once she was holding her breath against a scream.

Because her kits were gone!

 _Kokoro and Makoto were gone!_

The absence of their warm wiggling bodies left her shaking with agonized terror. Every fiber of her body ached with the need to find them. Rather than fly from the floor to throw herself again and again at the door and the walls she forced herself to listen to the distant _chugga-chugga_. It conjured far away memories of evening air and steamed pork buns. Lin used to associate the sound of trains with freedom. Numbly contemplating the irony of her predicament, Lin turned her mind to coming up with some way to get out of her prison.

Until she heard voices.

"Where d'you think you're goin'?" A woman demanded.

"Apologies, sister. I bring food for the weasel woman."

Another female answered with pretty words at odds with the other's rude accusation. Lin found herself pressed to the door holding her breath so she could listen. Snuffling the air Lin gritted her teeth. She could smell the spiders. She could also smell the eerie stink of death. It sent an electric shudder of revulsion running up her spine.

"Mother said no one was to enter that room!"

The first threw back hotly only to fall silent as the second refuted her.

"Mother said that I should take your place so you could eat as well."

"Really? I'm so hungry I could eat a human!"

"The traitor can cook with mortal fire. Mother commands her to serve us all. As you see there is rice and soup."

The first didn't need anymore convincing.

"Here! Take the keys. I'll be back soon."

Lin blinked rapidly, taking a step back from the door as her thoughts raced. She could feel the vibrations of the first spider leaving as the second approached. Keys jingled loud as thunder in her ears; so did the clatter of china. Lin could smell the aroma of freshly steamed rice and the tangy sour-sweetness of miso soup. But even as her stomach lurched with ferocious hunger Lin turned to stone. At once her pulse was racing; thunder in her ears; staining her thoughts. Seizing the blanket from the ground she fluffed it into a human form. Ripping Umi's knife from her obi Lin clenched the blade between her teeth. Lithe and light, she vaulted up over the doorway bridging the rusted racks. Braced there with her only hand she waited for the spider.

Bloodlust sharpened her sense to a razor's edge as the lock snapped. In shuffled a spider in the guise of a young woman. Lin tightened her teeth on the cold blade in silent hatred as she watched it enter. The spider was carrying a tray of food. Even though her hands were full, more appeared to shut the door behind her. She left the keys in the door! All this Lin watched in silence from her vantage point. But still she waited because the clatter of breaking dishes would attract attention. As the spider set down the tray she turned to gently put one of her hand on the piled blanket.

"Miss Lin?"

It whispered beneath its breath.

But Lin didn't hear; she was trembling with coiled potential.

She could hardly see anything but the red of anticipated blood.

Just as the whistle screamed distantly Lin sprang off the wall.

She hurled herself down at the spider as it whirled.

White-faced with shock in the dark, its mouth became a perfect oh of surprise.

Lin smashed it to the ground with her weight as the car heaved and rocked.

Before it could scream or struggle she drove Umi's dagger deep into its throat.

The point of the knife jarred against the floor as it pinned the spider there.

Seated on its chest Lin fought to hold down the thrashing storm of its many arms.

But even as it choked and wheezed, all too quickly it lapsed to stillness.

Blinking rapidly, its red eyes went pitch black.

Lin recoiled in horror as an eerie thrill coursed between the spider's body to hers. It made the scars on her face and the stump of her missing arm ache with cold. As her heart thrilled into her throat on a spike of terror Lin threw herself away, slamming back against the door and staring aghast as the spider changed. The limp tangle of its arms disappeared, dissolving into a clotted haze of black shadows that boiled and pulsed in the dark. Again Lin jolted against the door as cold sweat poured across her skin on the point of another bone rattling shudder. Because it looked just like a Forgotten!

She scrambled to open the door as it sat upright leaving Umi's knife protruding from the floor behind it. Before she could get the heavy iron door open it surged forward with unexpected speed, slamming the portal closed. Lin dove sideways only to wheel wrenching the dagger from the ground. Pointing the tip at the thing she gritted her teeth against a scream for help as her heart thundered in her ears. She almost reconsidered calling for the other spiders as a yawning mouth split the mass of its head. Gods, the sight was terrifying! It made her legs go weak and rubbery as it opened wider and wider until something emerged from within. As it did the quaking mess of its form calmed, solidifying to a vague humanoid shape that faded away into dim shadows at its feet.

Lin gaped stupidly at the familiar white mask that gleamed in the dark.

Blank black oculars smudged with sickness; purple triangles above and below.

Empty black mouth hanging open as if to speak; yet it remained ever silent.

Delicate hands lifted from the cloak of shadows, pushing up the mask.

Again the sad solemn face that emerged from beneath was achingly familiar.

Lin knees dissolved at the sight of Tomoe, dumping her onto the carpet.

Umi's knife fell from her fingers, landing without a sound on the carpet.

At once the ghost surged forward to kneel before her, reaching anxiously.

" _Are you unwell, Lin-sama?! Have they harmed you!?"_

She seized one of his hands just to make sure it was real.

Lin tightened her fingers even though touching him made her skin crawl.

Hearing the dry hush of his voice was as much a shock as it was a relief.

"How!?" She choked incredulously, "How are you here!?"

Tomoe's lips drew into a grim line of satisfaction.

He put his other hand on his stomach.

" _I ate a spider. As such I am able to hide within her shadow."_

A shudder of horror went skittering up Lin's spin as she remembered how Kaonashi had eaten and taken the voice and form of the bath house employees. Nervously taking back her hand Lin stared at him uncomprehending.

"But you gave Shurui your word that you wouldn't follow!"

The ghost snorted dismissively.

It was at the same time both terrifying and reassuring.

His endless jet black eyes gleamed like flints of obsidian in the dark.

" _I am no God, Miss Lin. Once I was human. Unlike Kami I can lie."_

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Chihiro awoke with a jolt.

She hadn't realized she'd been sleeping.

Blinking and blinking she struggled to make sure she was awake.

Then she found herself seriously annoyed by the fact that she wasn't just awake.

She was _wide_ awake.

Glancing at the window she realized it was still dark outside. A wall of intense indigo sky filled in the glass behind the yellowed lace curtains. Shivering violently she pulled the thick quilt up to her nose, breathing in the faint spicy smell of cedar lingering in the fabric. It trigged all kinds of complex memories as she ran her eyes up the dark sharply sloped ceiling. The last time she'd slept in this room was the night the spiders invaded the house. Hadn't Haku said he hated this room? Confused, she found herself tracing the path of a series of blots on the adjacent wall. Her insides contracted with dismay as she realized they were the footprints burned into the mural. Abruptly she looked away from the little boy or the old woman holding his hand.

Closing her eyes didn't help either.

All she could see was Sengen's cold blue eyes as they stared out of the mirror.

Glancing to the other corner of the room she gritted her teeth as silver glinted.

Beneath the tangled mess of her spider silk obi she could see the hilt of the sword.

Piled on top of the dull white fabric glinted the eerie sapphire jewel.

Peeking from beneath was the silver circle of the mirror.

Chihiro's insides scrambled and jittered at the sight of it.

Thank the Gods it had landed face down!

It didn't matter what Hidé said.

That mirror would always belong to his mother.

Turning her eyes back to the dark exposed beams of the ceiling Chihiro's insides went cold and tense with shame as she tried not to feel the frozen burn of Hidé's lips against her forehead. Tightening her hand on the scale hanging around her neck she worried the smooth curve with her thumb struggling to make sense of what she was feeling. She's read about this kind of stuff in school when they'd studies romance genre in her creative writing classes but had never really given it much thought. The text books went on and on about characters with _history_.

That's what was happening between her and Hidé.

She'd made her choice and he'd made his.

Those choices had irrevocably changed them forever.

But complications remained in the ghost of _feelings_ they once shared.

It was obvious he felt the same otherwise he wouldn't still be looking after her.

But it was different now.

They were done.

There was no going back.

That didn't do anything to change the history between them.

Still, how impossible was that going to be to explain to everyone else?

Especially Haku.

Chihiro held her breath as she ran over in her head the way he'd reacted earlier when he found out she'd seen Hidé. Haku'd always been emotionally turbulent but this was more than jealousy. Haku was scared; more than scared, actually; he was terrified, and all because he was afraid of loosing her. Not that she could blame him given what Sengen had put them thru over the past six months. She was still having trouble letting go of the worry that she'd go to sleep and wake up only to realize this was all a dream. Again she shivered violently with things that had nothing to do with cold. Continuing to worry his scale with her fingers, Chihiro let loose the breath she was holding and stared resolutely at the ceiling.

This wasn't a dream, she promised herself silently.

This was real; very, very real.

Then Haku sighed gustily in his sleep.

Chihiro's went still as her eyes riveted on his sleeping features. Her breath caught in her throat as she drank in the pale moon of his face. The green blue blot of his hair spilled across his smooth skin like ink. The dark line of his lashes and brows painted the contour of his closed eyes. The fine sharp point of his nose cut the shadows of the pillow. If she looked closely, so very, very closely, she could see the thin scar lines where the Forgotten had burned his face. Immediately she dropped her eyes as her insides seized with dismay over the terrible memory, desperate to see something else. All at once she was staring at his mouth. Soft and pink, the bow of his lips parted, tickling her face with his warm breath. Again she was struck by the wind of his making, like she'd been earlier. Staring at him now was like watching him dance.

The God crept out of him when he was asleep.

He was so beautiful, so very, very beautiful it was terrifying.

It make her chest ache to the point tears pricked her eyes.

Breathing a shuddering breath Chihiro cuddled closer, stealing his warm as she struggled to get as much of her body to touch his. Her insides sang with elation as he sighed again, threaded an arm heavy with sleep across her shoulder. Chihiro turned her face until her nose traced against the naked skin of his chest. Turning her mind away from morning she breathed him in, savoring the smell of warm summer rain. Instantly she was hungry again as she remembered the feel of him against her in the shower and the crushing heat of his body as he'd pinned her against the futon earlier. A shuddering stab of lust went winding in aching circle between her legs.

 _Wow!_

Not for the first time Chihiro was left marveling at how much he'd changed; how much he'd learned about being human. What happened in the bath wing and on the futon was just… it was incomparable. She hated to use the phrase _lovemaking_ because it sounded oh–so-shojo, the kinda stuff air-head characters from bad romance anime gushed about. It was more than sex, more than physical satisfaction. Sex: that's what she'd had with Karou; that's what she'd had with Hidé. She'd eventually had that with Haku too. But now it was more with him. It was so much more. Being with him was like becoming a part of him. But then again that's what love was supposed to be, wasn't it?

She couldn't imagine living without that feeling.

Even though she just had him she wanted him again. She wanted him again and again until the heat between them burned up into smoke the terrible things she'd seen in that stupid, _stupid_ mirror! But even though her libido screamed in her ears urging her to wake him up and jump his skinny, skinnybones she fell still. With slow creeping dread Chihiro was forced to admit that she'd been so caught up in having him again she'd forgotten all about the fact that he was human now. Well, maybe not human, but human enough to make the consequences of unprotected sex very real.

Her eyes jolted open as she frowned so deeply her jaw ached. At once her thoughts were racing, turning back through time. She scrambled to figure out when her last period. She'd lost track of that in everything that'd been going on. Cold poured over her as she was forced to face the chance she could get pregnant. Still holding her breath Chihiro rolled over and stared blankly at the ceiling. Until this moment she'd never considered having kids. They wouldn't be just anyone's kids. They'd be his kids.

Would that be so terrible?

Yes; at the moment in time it would be very, _very_ bad.

And she hated that; she _hated_ it so much!

As she was forced to let loose the breath it escaped her frayed with anger and fear. She could breathe fire now! She could see the future! She could summon Gods and travel through space and time! But she couldn't remember to use a goddamn condom! It was idiotic; absolutely idiotic! Breathing out another ragged breath that bordered on a sob Chihiro rolled onto her side only to jump as Haku placed his hand on her back.

"Chihiro?" He murmured drowsily, "Is something wrong?"

Blinking and blinking some more she hurried a lie through her teeth

"I… I can't sleep."

"I see," he replied in a foggy hush.

Her lips quirked.

He was so polite even when he was half awake!

"What time is it?" She pressed on to distract herself.

He shifted beside her to glance at the window.

"Close to dawn."

As he shivered Chihiro rolled back into him, already lifting her face to his in earnest. But he stopped her kiss with the soft tips of his fingers. Her frown disappeared as she found herself drowning in the shining sea of his luminous jade eyes. He was smiling softly; face alight as if enjoying a private joke. He swept the hair from her face in a fluid motion, making her insides sing as he stroked the side of her face.

"Not yet, dear one. It is not yet sunrise."

Again he glanced at the window, frowning as if judging distance.

"There is yet enough time to make way to the cliffs before sunrise."

Her stomach tightened anxiously at the word.

Cliffs!? She did not want to see _cliffs_ ever again!

Chihiro was full on frowning now, completely confused as he sat up.

"Why would we go to the cliffs?"

He came up short as he took in her expression.

It was his turn to look confused as he blinked rapidly.

"You do not know of _hatsuhinode?_ "

Chihiro's lips quirked again.

Whatever it was sounded Shinto-ish.

"Nope."

Haku was stunned.

"You have never gone to see the rising of the New Year's sun?"

She was grinning now, trying not to laugh at him.

He made it sound so very serious and important.

"The closest we get to celebrating New Years is mom makes soba noodles. We don't even go to the local shrine."

Chihiro's grin faded as Haku's brows drew together in a sharp knot as the corners of his lips pulled down. Before she could ask him what was so special about watching the sun rise he moved so fast she couldn't track. None of the heat trapped under the quilt escaped as he lifted the covers and flowed to his feet. Her stomach flipped as she stared at his naked body. Muscles rippled, etched and cut in tight knots beneath his pale, pale skin. She looked up as Haku fell still. Amusement glittered in his luminous jade eyes as he returned her stare with an arched brow. Flustering, heat scorched Chihiro's cheeks as he caught her looking. Abruptly she threw her attention away as he got dressed. Sitting up she wrapped herself in the quilt, darting her eyes back to him in utter mystification as Haku gingerly retrieved his jacket from the corner of the room.

"Have you any warm clothes, Chihiro?"

She blinked and blinked some more only to jump as one of the drawers in the adjacent dresser gave a wooden squeak. Chihiro threw her attention overhead as Onsen's mothy presence fluttered for a moment before it fled. Getting up and still clutching the quilt around her shoulder, because it was _ridiculously_ cold, Chihiro opened the drawer only to find the clothes she'd worn the night she'd driven back to Izu from Tokyo. Purple wool coat, brown leggings, and a striped scarf and that stupid hat with the big silly flower; it was the same outfit she'd worn on their date in Ueno Park. Even though she found herself suddenly exhausted and more than ready to go back to sleep, Chihiro tossed the blanket at the futon.

She got dressed and not just to escape the biting cold.

Whatever this was all about, it obviously mattered to Haku.

Even if she thought it was nuts, she'd go with him to see the silly cliffs.

He took her hand without a word, carefully pulling the slider open so it made the barest whisper in its tracks. Onsen was dark and silent save for the creak of boards beneath their feet. Feeling like a kid sneaking out of the house, Chihiro tried not to make a sound as they crept down into the kitchen by the back stairs. Shoe waited patiently at the threshold of the back door as if she'd left them there. Chihiro gawked at the boots she'd completely forgotten. Tugging them on with sullen slowness, she looked up sharply as Haku stepped into a pair of beaten combat boots and laced them so quickly she was scrambling to catch up as he pulled open the back door.

Frozen, frigid, frickin' _cold_ breathed through the frame.

It slapped her in the face!

Cringing, Chihiro reluctantly followed as again Haku took her hand and led her out into the back porch. The steps were slick with ice and the ground was hard and crunchy beneath the soles of her shoes. Chihiro practically had to swim through the white cloud of her breath. The bald artic blue sky yawned in all directions devoid of even the tiniest shred of cloud. Again Chihiro found herself staring in awe at the lacy bow of stars arching through the crystal clear blue. You couldn't see stars like this in Tokyo. There was no such thing as quiet in the city either. But here everything was so very quiet she could _hear_ her blood pumping in her veins!

Haku, however, seemed in a hurry.

His somber gaze kept darting to the subtle gray creeping into the western horizon.

Letting Haku tow her along behind him, Chihiro followed past the dark and silent Kami Wing, through the garden gate, down the creaking snowy slope of the back field. Like it was even possible somehow it got even colder as they passed under the heavy drooping arms of the snow weight pines. Even the little glowy bugs that usually pooled like water in the dark nooks of the forest seemed to be holed up to escape the bitter cold. But after trekking up the hill and scrambling over the familiar knotted snarl of tree roots that trundled down the back Chihiro was sweating under her coat.

It wasn't just the thinning of the trees that let light creep across the frozen ferny glades filling the places where the forest gave. The drifts of snow melted into thin patches as if eroded by the heavy touch of salt in the air. Her breath caught in her throat as the distant hush and hiss of waves breathed through the ice coated trees. Chihiro could almost feel the echo of rolling waves in the stone under her feet. Her sense sharpened as through the breaks in the trunks she caught sight of the ocean's hard slate-gray edge as it cut a long unyielding vista against the pale pre-dawn sky.

Chihiro used to love the ocean.

It conjured fantastic memories of summer vacation.

But now the sight filled her chest with cold fear.

Before they could approach the familiar stretch of cliff Haku pulled her aside, making his way down the trail that led to the old village, leaving behind the arch and the stone altar. Chihiro's pace quickened because she was more than happy to follow him elsewhere. That particular stretch of stone held too many bad memories. Through the breaks in the trees the sky began to turn pale lemony yellows, an unimpressive prelude to what was coming soon. As they picked their way around a tall head of stone carpeted in moss and scraggly stunted cypress they broke out of the trees onto a flat expanse of sandstone. The clearing curved out into another jutting mound of white weather earth pocked with stubborn patches of green before abruptly dropping off into the thin air beyond the edge of the cliff.

The voice of the ocean roared up out of the narrow cove far, far below. It blew a vicious wind stinging with effervescence over the lip of stone. Chihiro jerked back half afraid that the water might roll up after it. Looking up at Haku she found him once again contemplating the distant horizon. He tucked her beneath the crook of his arm as he pulled them closer to the cliff. Ripping away she caught his arm and hauled him backwards. There was no way she was going anywhere near that edge! But as she opened her mouth to demand what the hell was going on Haku looked back at her with an enigmatic expression that instantly shut her up.

It was a thoroughly God-ish look.

Wordlessly he appealed to her to trust him.

For a moment she hesitated, staring at him uncertainly. The singing wind rippled in the short fringe of his inky blue-black hair, making it fly and flutter around his soulful green eyes. It plucked at his open jacket and fluttered his flannel shirt. The same fingers of air tugged on the stupid flower on her hat as if trying to rip it off. It made her eyes water; blowing right through her and stealing all her warm. Then reluctantly she returned to his side, taking trembling steps forward even as her legs went rubbery with terror; because all too soon they were standing right on the edge of the stupid cliff!

As her insides surged and scrambled, Chihiro refused to look down.

Her teeth chattered loudly as the air stole all her warmth.

Again Haku pointed wordlessly at the horizon, urging her to look.

Gritting teeth against angry words she struggled to understand.

This crazy sojourn was making absolutely no sense!

But if only for his sake she tried all the same.

Squinting her eyes she struggled to see what he was pointing at.

She was so surprised it took her a moment to see it.

Red and orange were bleeding up from the horizon like ink soaking a page.

Struck by the sight, she stared in awe.

The color breathed life back into the slate gray water!

All at once it became blue again; brilliant, unimaginable, radiant blue.

Chihiro couldn't remember the last time she'd seen the ocean like this.

All at once Haku was speaking, his quiet voice almost swallowed by the wind.

"This moment is both rare and sacred, Chihiro."

Chihiro was so caught up in the transformation of the sky she barely heard him.

She forgot the dizzying drop at her feet, swallowed by the magnificence above.

Fiery hues spread across the gray dome chasing back night.

The leaping peaks of the waves shattered like sapphires.

They become points of blue flame as they broke on the rocks.

And she began to believe him as she watched.

This wasn't just any sunrise.

Opening her eyes as if for the first time she began to see Haku as finally explained.

"When the sun rises a new year will begin. If we believe in the power of this moment, if we begin with utmost attentiveness, this moment will extend and follow in the place everything that has haunted us. All of our ill luck will be forced to remain with the old year. It will be banished, unable to follow."

Narrating the swift approach of dawn, Haku's arm tightened around her waist.

Somehow his words reached beyond this moment.

They spilled ahead down the road to somewhere in the future.

Her heart thrilled in her chest as a strange anticipation built in her chest.

"We begin this journey with our first laughter. Let it banish evil and call back what has been lost. We begin with our first smile. Let it boast that we are brave and sorrow cannot touch us. We begin with our first kiss. Let it show you how I love you now as I always have for every year that has gone before and will come again."

Incandescent wildfire burst over the edge of the world.

Silently it slipped over the horizon in a vibrant flash of white.

Chihiro jerked as the bell in her heart gave a sonorous peel. Throwing up her hand she cringed from the overwhelming brightness. All the same she stared between her fingers, looking right at the sun. The heat burned on her skin as the light dug into her eyes. But it didn't hurt like the light inside of Sengen's mirror. Eerily the warmth spread across her skin. Soaking her through until it was buzzing in her veins, making her hum with magic. She gave a violent start again as Haku took her face in his freezing hands. Ripping her eyes from to sun, Chihiro found his face alight like the sky. His eyes flashed like the shell around her neck. They caught the dawn, burning like viridian foxfires. Chihiro held her breath as she drank him in, drowning in the river of his eyes. Her insides thrilled as he bent over her finally offering what she wanted earlier. His exultant gold tenor sang in her ears as his lips whispered against hers.

"Kiss me, Chihiro. Show me that you feel the same."

Without hesitation she stood on her toes to crash her mouth against his. He still kissed like a God; infuriatingly slow and with such reverence. Throwing her arms around his neck she impatiently demanded more as her insides began to smolder hungrily. He chuckled softly, smiling against her lips as his hands skated down her hair. Chihiro gasped as he abruptly seized her around the middle, anchoring her against his side. Confused, she drew back only to find him smiling. Beaming brighter and brighter until his smile became a grin, Haku's radiant eyes suddenly filled with sparkling mischief. She cringed in surprise as he lifted an old synthetic umbrella over their heads. A wind of an entirely different kind erupted around them only to open the fabric them until the supporting tines inside locked in place with a springy _thwack!_

Chihiro shrieked; clamping her arms around his neck as her feet left the ground.

That only made Haku laugh harder as they shot up into the sky like a rocket.

He laughed loud and free as they spun like a top flying higher and higher.

Gods, she loved hearing him laugh!

It was such a rare sound that she forgave him for laughing at her expense.

Chihiro gasped as another gust of wind buffeted them higher before it let them drift to the side in a lazy spin. Her stomach surged into her throat as flight stole all feeling from her legs. She couldn't help but giggle as her insides sang with giddy weightlessness elation, grinning until her frozen cheeks ached. It wasn't the first time he'd taken her flying. This was a leisurely stroll compared to some of their previous walks in the sky! The sight knocked most of the worry out of her head as Izu floated by beneath their feet growing close and closer as they slowly drifted down like a bit of dandelion fluff. The coast transformed into a jagged scalloped line of rocks. It was outlined in thin lines of white where snow still piled. The highway meandered through the rolling loping carpets of black like a ribbon of white; disappearing into the tiny collection of lights that was Kumomi.

"You see the ground every day, dear one. Perhaps look at the sky instead."

Haku chuckled; laughing at her expense again.

Chihiro flashed Haku a surly moue before following his instructions.

Just as quickly she forgot to be mad as she peered around the edge of the umbrella. The sight struck her still. Endlessly the sky arched overhead in a dizzying, swallowing promise of forever that sent her insides scrambling. Somehow it stole back all the brilliant blue it loaned to the sea. Beneath them the ocean went unnervingly black, robbed of all its color once more save for where water met sky. A widening band of red fire unfurled there in a strange layered rainbow of light as it warmed the frozen heaven. Red bled to orange that faded to yellows that washed away into an bizarre violent before transforming to an faint hint of green blue at the edge of the familiar intense blue that slowly yawned wider and wider across, forcing away the edge of black at their backs.

Slowly it dawned on her just how impossible this was!

She thought he'd lost the ability to fly when he gave up being a God!

Loosening her grip she leaned away so she could look at him. Haku was gazing out at the sky with such a serene expression of happiness Chihiro forgot what she was going to say. It took him a long while to realize she was staring at him. A hint of pink crept into his cheeks as he glanced at her bashfully.

"H-how are you doing th-this!? I th-thought you c-couldn't fly anymore?"

Chihiro forced the words through her chattering was _freezing_ up there!

"I cannot. This is only possible thanks to another of Onsen's gifts."

He answered calmly, but not without a hint of sadness, lifting his eyes to the umbrella. Following his eyes up into the bell of the synthetic fabric, Chihiro found several lines of repair stitches crisscrossing the thin membrane. At once her insides seized and coiled with apprehension as her hands followed suite on Haku's coat. Abruptly her eyes dropped to the distant ground, judging the distance they had to fall if the stitched gave. She picked out the enormous camphor tree as lit loomed larger and larger beneath their feet. Her chest squeezed in relief as she found a familiar blue roof amidst a snowy field. It looked like a dolls house tucked against the trees and bamboo. The open air pool looked like a steaming cup of green tea.

Chihiro startled as Haku blew a gentle wind between his pursed lips, redirected their path. Again her stomach lurched into her throat as they buffeted sideways into a sharp arc, circling around as they began to sink with such mounting speed Chihiro fidgeted in Haku's grip. Expertly he blew a long controlled puff of air into the umbrella tines, sending her insides lurching. As they slowed to the ground folded open beneath them and everything grew large with intimidating, unexpected quickness.

Chihiro was stunned as her feet touched the ground in the back fields.

Her knees buckled.

Haku caught her before she could dump into the snow.

"Take care," he counseled gently, "Your legs will need a moment to adjust."

He held onto her until finally her knees remembered how to work.

Chihiro almost protested as he took back his arm.

She shivered in his absence, at once shaking from head to toe

Turning aside he shook the thick coat of ice from the umbrella.

Silently she watched to make it disappear into one of his pockets.

Here she remembered to speak too.

Chihiro stuttered through her chattering teeth.

"H-happy N-new Y-year, Hak-k-ku."

He turned back only to fight a frown that was also a smile.

"Oh, dear one, you have frost in your hair."

"W-whose fault-t-t is t-t-that?"

She glared at him and tried to frown. It was impossible to frown when your teeth were chattering so hard. Fighting that same sorry smile, Haku swept his hands over her head making bits of ice fall onto her shoulders before he bundled her inside his coat.

"Happy New Year, Chihiro."

Haku murmured into her frozen hair in utter contentment. Holding her close in the bow of his arms he planted a kiss on her brow. Chihiro's insides jolted, leaving her cringing as his frozen lips burned on her skin just like Hidé. Closing her eyes Chihiro tried to forget the sensation, tried to replace it with something that belonged to Haku alone. Leaning into him she breathed in his smell, pursuing his warmth only to find him shivering as well. She forgot everything as she remembered the steaming cup of tea she'd seen from the sky.

"Bath!" She demanded through her clenched teeth.

Again he chuckled, nuzzling the top of her head.

Then he steered her through the frozen fields heading for the bath wing.


	13. Chapter 13

**HAKU**

Dropping his head Haku sighed in gusty contentment as the spray ran in a steady river down the curve of his back taking the suds of soap with it. Enrobed in steam, doused in a steady stream of boiling hot water, it was easy to forget the snow outside. As loathe as he was to leave the rising sun he could not bare the cold sky. The frigid morning was a terrible thief. It robbed both he and Chihiro of all their warmth. Still an ember of light glowed in his heart.

Haku jumped, shifting aside to make way for Chihiro as she bumped against his side. He fought another grin as he glanced at her through the spray. Her head was caked with a thick cap of white foam that ran into her face. Her face was screwed into a tight knot of lines as she fought to keep the soap from her eyes and mouth. Blindly she groped, struggling to find the shower head. Grinning now, he almost withheld the water simply to tease her. The sunlight had allowed him to find again the rare mood that had seized him last night. The frogs were the pranksters of this house. Haku, however, was beginning to see the amusement at the heart of their play.

Before he could pester Chihiro further he came up short as he considered the retribution she might summon in answer to him. Instead he guided her hand to the faucet he watched as she rinsed her face, arching to let the water run through her hair and down the sweet soft curves of her form. Feeling guilty for tormenting her earlier with an unsolicited flight, Haku made amends by gently scrubbing her back with a wash cloth. She giggled as first, and then leaned into each of his strokes humming happily. Blinking at him through the spray she flashed him a smile and took the wash cloth, motioning for him to turn so she could to return the kindness.

Haku obliged, bracing his arms on the wall as the scent of soap and humid cedar made it difficult to think. Washing was one thing; bathing was something else entirely. The sooner they were clean the sooner they could soak in the raised pool set into the corner of the tiled washroom. All he wanted was the kiss of that burning hot water. Haku half considered braving the frozen air beyond the frosted sliding door so they could enjoy the massive pool outside. The thought of leaving behind the humid cloud of steam left him indecisive.

As he opened his mouth to seek counsel on the idea the door to the shower opened.

Haku whirled, catching hold of Chihiro as she shrank into him with a squeak. A blast of chilly wind flooded the room in response to his surprise. It escaped through the open door, clearing the veil of steam. Still bleary eyed with sleep Megumi came up short in the threshold as it gusted by. They stared at each other in wide-eyed shock. She was quite naked. So was he. But she was all the more exposed as her hair was tightly knotted atop her head. Haku slapped his hands over his eyes as his face burned in scalding mortification. She screamed all the same, shrill with outrage as she slammed the plastic door so hard the room shook.

 _"Goddamnit, Kou!"_ Megumi thundered furiously, _"_ This is the _girl's_ side!"

Terrified, Haku took back his shaking hands staring at the frosted door.

Megumi's silhouette loomed behind the translucent plastic like a black demon.

She continued to snarl from the female's changing room.

"Get out here _now_ so I can take a shower!"

He shrank in distress from the idea of exiting through that door.

All he had to cover himself was a tiny washcloth!

Silently he appealed to Chihiro for help.

She was just as red in the face as he.

Unfortunately for him she was shaking with withheld laughter.

Holding her breath and crossing her eyes in effort to keep silent.

Looking away in frosty indignation he endured her snuffled snickering.

"This is not amusing, Chihiro," Haku muttered sullenly.

That only made her snigger and giggle louder, proving the opposite.

Side-stepping out of the shower's path, he turned the faucet to cold.

Chihiro choked on a shriek, scrambling to shut off the spray of water.

Irritably she waved at the opposite slider, motioning toward the out door pool.

"You can get to the guy's side from the deck, right?"

Haku blinked as he realized that was indeed true.

Gritting his teeth he braced himself for the frozen air.

He yelped in surprise as Chihiro pinched his rear.

Stunned he looked at her sharply and found her grinning in vindication.

He sputtered huffily. What insult!

Casting about for some kind of response he drew himself tall only to stick his tongue out at her. Haku had seen Fuu and Kana exchange such gestures when harassing each other. It was his turn to grin as she blinked and went pink in the cheeks with surprise. Goaded thoroughly, she grabbed the shower head to douse him with cold water. Before she could Haku fled, slipping out through a crack in the outer door. He loosed a strangled squawk as the arctic air blistered and seared his skin. But his feet did not so much as touch the icy ground.

He was through the slider into the men's side of the bath wing with a wind on his heels. Steam whirled overhead in a great eddying circle as the door slammed shut behind him. Water splashed high as he all but threw himself through the steaming surface of the interior pool. Immersed to his chin Haku let himself melt into the hot water as the dim green gloom of the tiled room cocooned him in silence. Slowly the heat soaked through every inch of his body as he loosed a long gusty sigh in the muggy air, stretching out his long legs until his toes tickled against the opposite wall.

Boneless and nearly floating, Haku stared through the lazily drifting vapor and found himself idly counting the trickling drips of water. Finally feeling thoroughly boiled, Haku surfaced; sitting up and planting his back against the cooler tiles of the wall. Spreading out his arms he watched his pale skin steam in the cooler air. Blowing a gentle wind through his pursed lips he chased the mists in playful eddies, watching them in absent fascination, sending them chasing as he twined his fingers in circles.

What a luxury to have a moment to himself.

What a rare thing this brief flash of calm.

Too quickly it was gone.

Slowly a frown tugged on his lips as distant sounds invaded his sanctuary.

Sharp female voices echoed in the ventilation ducts overhead.

Furrowing his brow Haku listened intently as Michio's voice spiked.

Then Jae and Kenka's voice sounded even closer.

"Why's she yelling," Kenka muttered irritably, "It's way too early for her to be pissed about something."

"It's Megumi, man," Jae returned helplessly, "She was born pissed."

Sluggish with heat Haku hauled himself upright sending water sloshing over the lip of the recessed pool only to balk at fleeing outside. It was too terribly cold! Whirling he found their shadows filling the fogged plastic door leading to the male changing room.

He cringed as the door yanked open, clearing the humid air with the violent wind of his mortification, because there was nowhere to go! Dropping back into the water Haku slapped his hands over his eyes as once again his face was burning.

 _"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Kou! You scared t'shit outta me!"_

Jae swore explosively, sounding faint.

Kenka, however, sounded both amused and perplexed.

"Why are you covering your eyes, dude?"

"I am being polite!" Haku announced in embarrassment.

In the same moment Megumi hammered on a distant door.

She was yelling in renewed anger.

"I gave you plenty of time to clear out, Kou! You better be out of there!"

Haku's insides scrambled uncomfortably in the stunned silence that followed.

"Wait… Were you in the _girl's_ side?"

Jae was incredulous.

"It is not as it sounds!" Haku threw back hastily still covering his eyes, "Megumi did not know Chihiro and I were…"

The word dried up in his mouth even as he spoke them.

 _"You dog!"_ Jae crowed exultantly, "First thing in the mornin', huh?"

Haku sputtered in humiliation.

It was a wonder that the water around him was not boiling.

The heat radiating from his face could have evaporated the entire pool.

"Dude, knock it off. You're gonna piss him off and I'm seriously fine with watching him beat your ass for being rude."

Kenka sighed gustily as he shut the door.

His bare feet slapped on the tiles before the water snicked on.

Heat and humidity flooded the room replacing what Haku's wind chased out.

Another of the showers fizzed on.

Jae had to shout over the hiss of the water to be heard.

"Hey, man, Kou earned ever bit of this! I was all kinda of worried that some _bad shit_ had gone down again last night when he took off from the party like a bat outta hell. Turns out he was just getting his rocks off with his girl!"

"Will you shut up already!?" Kenka bit back hotly before he cursed under his breath, "Damn it, now I got soap in my eye."

Hands firmly pressed over his eyes and chin submersed Haku considered fleeing.

The males were thoroughly distracted.

But before he could dissolve into wind and mist a shower cut off.

Haku cringed back against the wall as someone joined him in the pool.

Kenka sighed in a long suffering sound from somewhere to his right.

"Kou, will you stop hiding? We're all grown ups here and it's not like we have anything you don't."

Gritting his teeth, Haku lowered his hands, blinking rapidly as he stared ahead. From the periphery of his vision he could see Kenka leaning against the far wall of the bathing pool watching him from the corners of his eyes all the while wearing a mild smirk. Haku found his resolve slipping as he noticed with curiosity that the skin of the male's chest was so very dark compared to his. It made the wet synthetic frosted fringe of the male's hair all the brighter. Kenka pale eyes glittered with barely restrained humor as Kenka wiped the water from his face.

"That didn't kill you, now did it?"

No. Haku was forced to admit that it had not.

Still, his insides chilled with apprehension as he slowly sat up.

In truth he was more afraid of their reaction to seeing him.

As he had feared Kenka's face fell with horror as his eyes slid across Haku's skin.

Another shower cut and water splashed as Jae joined them abruptly.

"H-holy shit, Kou! Where _t'hell_ did you get those!?"

The foul-mouthed human invaded his space to inspect the scars.

Haku's back slapped against the cold wall tiles as he cringed from Jae's attention.

Kenka caught Jae's arm and hauled him aside.

Jae submersed a moment before surfacing coughing and glaring at his friend.

"What _t'fuck_ , man!?"

Kenka splashed him, glaring back with a furious frown.

"Congratulations, dude! You win the insensitive asshole award this morning."

Jae threw a hand at him making Haku flinch as flecks of water hit his arm.

"But look at them, man! They look like _huge_ fuckin' spider bites!"

"That is what they are."

Absently Haku rubbed a knot of scar tissue on his right shoulder as quietly he explained the origin of the score of angry red puncture wounds that marred the length of his body. With every passing moment he grew less and less self-conscious about the marks. As it was with Chihiro, in a way it was comforting to let himself be seen. Hiding, like lying, was absolutely exhausting.

"These are relatively new. I incurred them when I was taken that night."

Jae's voice failed as it shredded on the edge of dread.

"You mean those are from the s- _spiders_ …?!"

Haku nodded carefully.

Thankfully they did not ask about the poison.

He was not sure he could bring himself to tell them how it had nearly killed him.

"Do they hurt?"

Kenka's face and gone pale; his worried gaze darted at him only to veer away.

Haku frowned consideringly.

"Sometimes they ache."

"What about those?" Jae demanded hoarsely.

Haku blinked before putting a hand on the parallel lines etched into the hard wall of his stomach. His fingers spread to trace the marks in a slow drawing motion that was not lost of the humans. Whatever color they had left fled their faces.

"These are older," Haku explained quietly so as not to alarm them anymore than he already had, "There are more on my face and my arms if you look closely. They come from an encounter with something far worse than spiders."

Jae was horror-struck as he choked beneath his breath.

"What _t'fuck_ could be worse than spiders, man!?"

Kenka was staring at anything but him now.

The male was shaking slightly as he threw up a quelling hand.

"Look, I… I don't want to hear about that right now if that's okay?"

The haunted look was back in the male's pale eyes as he stared at nothing.

Haku's brow tightened with worry as he studied his friend.

With a gusty sigh that sent the mists swirling Haku swept wet bangs from his face.

"Apologies, Kenka. I only wanted to answer your question."

The human nodded but still refused to look at him.

"S'okay, dude. I know you're not trying to freak me out. It's just too easy to forget what you are and what you've been through when you're acting all flustered and awkward and cute."

The pall lifted as Haku's lips twitched and glanced askance at his friend.

"You think me cute?"

It was Kenka's turn to go red in the face.

" _Oooo!"_ Jae taunted wickedly, "I'm tellin' on you to Chihiro!"

Angrily Kenka splashed the male right in the face just as he opened his mouth.

Coughing violently, Jae choked on the water, grimacing and pinching his nose.

" _Fuck_ , man! You got it right up my _fuckin' nose!_ I hate that!"

Still playing up his condition, Jae deviously scooped a handful of water in return. It doused Kenka over the head making his hair run in his eyes. Haku looked on in mounting dismay as the bedraggled males glared at each other for a tense moment. At once the shallow bathing pool erupted into a frothy water fight in which he was embroiled against his will as the humans stood to kick and scoop water at each other.

"Please!" Haku entreated in exasperation, "Can I not bath in peace!?"

A fiercely misdirected jet of water slapped him in the face.

It invaded his eyes with uncomfortable heat as he cringed behind his hands.

A spike of fury surged through his chest in response to the slight.

 _"Enough!"_ Haku thundered.

Magic surged in his veins like crackling ice as he slapped his hands together.

The sound reverberated into the echoing space like a thunderclap.

Onsen obeyed him eagerly.

At once the water erupted from the pool at his command.

It surged into the air only to blow apart and solidify.

Transformed, it gathered into glittering tremulous orbs suspended midair.

Steaming exuded from the dripping orbs in curling plumes of vapor.

These swirled and eddied in the torrid rafters like tiny whirlpools.

Kenka and Jae were left floundering on the slick tiles like stunned drowning fish.

Standing wearily Haku exited the empty pool muttering beneath his breath.

"Gods above, you are such children."

The moment he turned his back to the humans, however, he could fight the smile no more. Closing the rickety plastic door behind him he let the water fall. Jae and Kenka's shrieks masked Haku's low chuckle. As he found a fresh towel and other communal toiletries in the cupboards of the adjoining changing room, Onsen creaked in the rafters with silent glee. Grinning up at the house's sweet presence Haku quickly dried his hair. Wrapping himself in a crisp yukata that smelled strongly of savory cedar, he busied himself with brushing his teeth at one of the sinks to keep from grinning as Jae and Kenka emerged sullen and dripping from the bathing room. They continued to glare at each other as they went for towels and joined him at the sinks shortly.

Haku could not help but paused in the midst of frothing the minty paste against his teeth as the males lathered their faces with soap only to lose from their toiletries kits tiny blades trapped in blue plastic. These they used to sheer off the stubbly hairs on their faces and necks. Fascinated by the thoroughly bizarre human ministrations, Haku found himself starting with intense curiosity.

"Is that not dangerous!?" He hushed as he took the brush from his mouth.

Jae flashed him an amused glance as he carefully scratched the blade against the tiny nook beneath his nose. He the male paused to pat his freshly shaved cheek.

"No shit, man. But the ladies like a smooth face."

Haku glanced at Kenka only to find the male plucking out one by one the tiny fine hairs between his eyes. It was obvious from the human's expression that the act hurt a great deal. The afflicted skin was slowly becoming red and swollen. Haku watched in mystification.

"Surely that causes you pain!"

Kenka never ceased his work even as a tear slipped down his cheek.

"Yeah, it does."

Haku was utterly baffled.

"Then why then do you do this?"

"Because I like the way it looks. This is nothing. Girls like to rip off all the hair on their bodies except what's on their head."

Haku cringed as he gasped in horror.

 _"Madness!"_

Kenka laughed out loud at that, flashing him a sparkling grin that lit up his face.

"Want me to do you brows too?"

Haku shrank holding out quelling hands as he gritted his teeth.

"Man, don't go girling him up already!" Jae muttered irritably.

Haku could not help but cringe as the male scraped the plastic razor at his neck.

Kenka flashed his friend a sour moue.

"Says the dude that likes facials."

Frowning still, Haku ran his hand over the fogged glass and leaned close to inspect his face. He had no such hair on his chin, cheek or neck. Nor was he so troubled by the state of the tiny hairs on his brows that he felt compelled to rip them out. The bridge of his nose was completely smooth as it always had been. Pinching his damp bangs between his fingers Haku pulled a lock down onto his forehead only to have it barely tickle against his eyelashes. At once his frown became a scowl as he realized his hair was beginning to grow long again. Remembering how the messy length had afflicted him he made a sour grimace.

"Let me know when you want me to cut it."

Haku glanced up as Kenka joined him. Running a hand through his hair, the human teased it back and forth, measuring it between his fingers with a considering moue. Haku watched in the reflection of the mirror as lines of pain etched around Kenka's eye.

"I'm not as good as Shouta but I'll keep it from become a mess."

Kenka looked away quickly, returning to his sink and his plucking. Watching the human's suddenly guarded expression through the reflection in the mirror, Haku silently worried for his friend. Worrying drove him to make small talk.

"Was it so terrible then?"

As Kenka glanced at him Haku held out a pinch of his hair clownishly.

The male's lips quirked.

But just as abruptly he looked away, for some reason trying to sound casual.

"Not really. I kinda liked it long."

Kenka's coolness came across forced. Haku found himself frowning at his friend. What was this then? Haku had far too much practice with deception to not notice the male's subterfuge. Pink that had nothing to do with plucking crept into Kenka's cheeks as Haku continued to study him. The color intensified as the male's pale eyes darted at him only to skate away as he leaned closer to the mirror to focus intently on the tiny hairs at the corner of his left brow that eluded his tiny tweezers. But as Haku opened his mouth to speak the slider to the changing room jerked open.

Completely startled, Haku vaulted into the air as gale erupted beneath his heels.

A violent riot of wind ripped through the room as he back-flipped onto the bench.

Heart hammering in his throat, ever coiled fiber of his body hummed with fight.

He reached for Hanoane searching the empty doorway for enemies.

But his sword was not at his side.

It, along with the rest of his clothes, he had left in the female's changing room.

Haku turned with fists on the hands that pulled at him.

Furious wind knocked Kenka back against the cabinets so hard it dislodged towels.

At once the male's white hands flashed in the air between them.

Haku stared at them numbly, forced to reckon that they were unarmed.

Even though fear transformed his face Kenka master it.

"Dude! Dude, _chill!_ " He appealed soothingly, "It's just Bozu!"

Kenka was pointing now.

Whirling, Haku found the tiny yokai peering around the door frame.

His single eye was wide as he clutched Karasu's bowler to his head.

Pale blue with worry, Chouchin fought the wind to float above Bozu's head.

Haku stared at them uncomprehending.

At once he was light-headed and short of breath with relief.

No spiders scrambled at his door.

No monster or demons either.

Nothing threatened his loved ones.

Again reprieve robbed him of strength.

He was both grateful and terrified in the same moment.

Because it seemed anything could crash through his doors at any moment.

His knees shook to the point they nearly folded.

Kenka caught his arm as Haku collapsed to a seat on the bench.

The male's bleached hair fluttered in the slowly quieting wind.

"What _t'fuck_ , Kou! That some _serious_ PTSD!"

Jae was clinging to the sink staring at him with pale anger.

A tiny river of red ran down his cheek where he had cut himself.

"A-apologies…" Haku hushed as he struggled to catch his breath, still stunned and confused, "I… I know not what came over me."

Haku jerked against Kenka as the goblin surged at him. Bozu caught the hem of his yukata and tugged on it insistently, hissing between his sharp teeth as if whispering could keep the humans from hearing.

"Stupid dragon cannot trick Bozu! Tell Bozu what happened!"

Extricating himself from the creatures grip, Haku spilled backwards in his haste to put the bench between him and the yokai. Kenka came with him. The vice of the male's arms around his waist was the only thing that kept Haku on his feet. Bozu clambered up onto the bench, stomping his bare feet and shaping his tiny fists, glaring furiously with his single eye.

"Bozu saw kami-human and fox and spider return to Ueno Park last night! Bozu saw kitty-cat and stupid dragon clean up the ocean and the stones before humans came home! Did kami-human see Kubi-san!? Tell Bozu! Tell him now!"

Haku flinched from the goblin's desperate demands.

Mutely he stared not knowing where to begin.

"What's he talking about, Kou?"

Kenka's breath tickled again Haku's neck, making him shiver.

Why was it that he could never seem to keep anything from this human?

At the male's gentle entreat the words spilled from Haku in a rush.

"I left abruptly last night because something did indeed happen. Onsen, Okesa, and I were able to conceal the results before you returned."

As all eyes in the room turned to fix upon him with such acuity Haku's knees shook once more beneath the weight of their attention. With Kenka's help he returned to a seat on the edge of the bench, throwing up a warding hand to keep Bozu at bay. Here, however, the tiny creature startled as Jae threw his razor into the sink. Jittering down off the bench, Bozu fled to hide behind Haku as the male began shouting furiously, gesturing wildly as he struggled to keep the towel around his waist.

"What _t'fuck_ , man! I though you said you weren't gonna _lie_ to use anymore!"

Haku gritted his teeth as the word slapped him in the face.

Ducking his head, Jae knocked back against the wall as Chouchin hissed at him.

The lantern circled back over to gently bump against Haku's head.

He collected her into his arms, rewarded and comforted by her rosy glow.

"Apologies. I did not want to upset Satako or her mother."

As the hot-blooded male sputtered Kenka cut him off.

"Leave it, Jae! It doesn't matter anyway so let him talk, okay!?"

Jae glared back, chewing fury before wiping soap and blood from his face.

The male, however, managed to remain silent.

Quickly Haku explained the little he knew, trying to make sense of it himself.

"There is a mirror in the Kumomi Shrine treasure store that belongs to the Goddess of the harbor. It has the ability to show whomever looks into it glimpses of the future. Chihiro looked into that mirror in hopes of seeing the ones we have lost. What she saw drove her back to Ueno Park and the Gojo Tenjin Shrine. Apparently she spoke at length with Kazue-sensei."

That shut Jae up.

Kenka plunked down beside him gaping in stunned surprise.

"Seriously?!"

"Shhh!" Bozu hissed, "Tall human must let Stupid Dragon talk!"

Haku's lips quirked back and forth between a frown and a smile as he glanced down at the goblin; batting at the brim of Karasu's hat, he knocked the bowler into the yokai's eyes. Chouchin loosed the sputtering fizzle that was her giggle as the tiny creature flashed them a surly grimace.

"What did sensei say!?"

Haku glanced up at Kenka as the male grabbed his arm.

Chouchin spilled from Haku's arms, darting up into the rafters with angry sparks.

Kenka ignored her. His pale face was transfixed with anticipation.

They both jumped as Jae cut in furiously, spitting as he shouted wrathfully.

"What _t'fuck_ do we care what she said, man! She _abandoned_ us! She brought us into this fuckin' mess then gave up the _fuckin'_ boot as soon as things went t'hell!"

Kenka ignored the male's fit, pressing on in the barest whisper as his face tightened, etching with the same lines of pain Haku had seen earlier.

"Did sensei say anything about Shouta?"

Haku was forced to shake his head in solemn silence, swallowing a pinch of pain as misery and worry soaked Kenka through. Still the male pressed on even as he began to crumble, struggling to hold back the tears of frustrated agony in his glimmering eyes.

"What about Kana or Fuu?!"

It was Jae who spoke up now. The male was leaning against the wall hugging his bare chest as if cold, staring at the floor between them wearing an undisguised expression of great conflict. Jae shivered, glancing at him then away as again Haku shook his head.

"And Kubi-san? Did Kami-human see Kubi-san?"

Haku glanced down at Bozu as the yokai yanked again on his hem.

"Apologies, Bozu-san. She did not."

The tiny creature's eye went perfectly round as his face fell.

Haku's heart squeezed in pity as the goblin sank to a seat on his heels.

Hastily he amended his truth with a small kindness, trying to offer hope.

"She did see the children."

At once Bozu's chin jerked up as his shining eye went awed.

He snuffled loudly, wiping at the tears cutting paths on his grimy cheeks.

"Kami-kids okay? Really, truly?"

Haku nodded with a smile that somehow felt false.

"Yes, they are quite well."

"What else?" Kenka demanded suddenly.

Haku shrank from the male's sudden shrewd scrutiny.

As always, this human saw him far too clearly.

Kenka's face went cool and calm with uncharacteristic control.

"You're saving the worst for last. I can tell."

Haku's insides sank with frosty dismay.

What could he do but tell the truth?

"We must leave you again and we go where you cannot follow."

"Like _hell_ we can't!"

Kenka all but shouted in his face as he seized him by the collar. Haku shrank from the human's uncharacteristic vehemence, stunned by the anger burning in his pale wide eyes. It drew Kenka's lips into a thin grim line that set the muscles at the back of his jaw twitching. Hidden in the shadow of that fire, however, was guileless fear. Haku was stunned by the male's concern. It touched a rare chord in his heart, proving the strength of their friendship, leaving his voice thick and useless in his throat as emotions swelled in his chest until they exceeded him. A wind gusted through Kenka's hair as Haku took the male's hand from his collar. Gently he touched the human's fingers on one of the spider bite scars exposed on his neck.

"We cross back into the Spirit World, Kenka. I can barely survive in that place. I cannot risk your well being in the dangers that await there."

The human's face tightened with consternation as he snatched back his hand shaking his fingers as if the contact had shocked him. All the same Kenka stared long hard at the mark, obviously struggling with Haku's quiet pronouncement. The male blinked rapidly as if Haku had slapped him, looking away. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to accept his words as his hands tightened to fists.

"How long will you be gone?!"

Haku's insides sank as his blood went cold as ice.

"Time in the Spirit World does not move the same as in the human world."

"What t'fuck does that mean!?" Jae demanded peevishly.

There was no way to soften this blow.

Haku blundered forward and divulged the worst truth.

"It means we may be gone for months; possibly even years."

Again silence hit the room. Jae and Kenka both went blank-faced with staggered surprise. Haku hurried to speak into the void for he was desperate to have them hear him.

"I have no right to ask anything more of you. Already I have stolen from you more than I can ever return, but I beg of you still!"

At once Haku melted forward onto the floor.

Pressing his forehead onto his folded hands, he bowed with utmost decorum.

Abandoning all pride he implored them to listen.

"I offer you work here. You will have room and board and whatever human wage you see fit to request. In exchange I beseech you to watch over and feed my family in my absence. Stay! Please, I humbly beg of you to stay! You will come to love this house as I do. She will love you in return. Be well and safe beneath her roof."

Haku could not bring himself to speak the last.

Until I am able to return.

He could not speak it aloud for fear it might become a lie.

But he held it in his heart like a prayer.

All the signs offered this past night bespoke possibilities he had not foreseen.

They dared him to have faith.

Suddenly his brittle hope seemed to grow stronger.

"Damn it, Kou, will you _stop_ bowing!"

Kenka hauled him upright, putting him back on his feet. Haku's insides seized in surprise at the human's strength. Catching him by the shoulders Kenka shook him with an angry growl before pushing him away before pacing back and forth, making Chouchin dart out of the way as he circled shaking with intense emotions. Scrubbing his face and pulling at his hair Kenka re-tightened the towel around his waist before spinning on his heel to face him, making Haku back a step holding up his hands in supplication as the male advanced on him with a stern grimace.

" _Seriously_ , dude! You're such a _pain in the ass_ sometimes!"

Here he came up short staring with such a complex expression Haku did not know what to think. Then Kenka wilted and loosed a gusty sigh. Bowing his head the male pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded.

"I'll stay."

" _T'fuck_ you will!" Jae started up tetchily.

Kenka whirled, jabbing a finger into his bare chest.

With uncharacteristic fury he thundered in his friend's face.

His pale eyes flashed like lightening as he spit the words through gritted teeth.

 _"I said I'm fucking staying!_ I have nowhere else to go! I have nothing left but all of this! I'm tired of having nothing, Jae! These people have been good to me! Nicer than anyone has been in a long time! You and Meg can do whatever the _fuck_ you want but I'm gonna stay, got it?!"

Jae knocked back against the wall holding up his hands exactly as Haku had.

Obviously shaken Jae stared up at Kenka as if seeing him for the first time.

"Okay, man, I got it! You don't have t'tear me a fuckin' new one! Jesus Christ!"

Pushing his finger away Jae drew himself up to glare at his friend.

Kenka was still almost a full head taller.

"Look, man, if you stay I'm gonna have to stay too."

Kenka laughed. It was a bitter humorless sound.

"I don't need your pity, Jae."

The male shoved him hard, advancing with shaking fists as if ready to punch him. Haku was about to intervene but Jae, however, managed to contain his temper, use words instead of actions.

"Fuck you, man! You ever worked in a hotel? I have! Your cooking sucks compared to mine an' I don't want this place to go bankrupt, right!? Besides, how fuckin' lame would it be to have to go back t'Osaka an' move in with mom and my _halmeoni_? I'd never get laid again in my life!"

Kenka ground his teeth together visible agitated.

But he went cold again as he threw the following in his friend's face.

"What about Meg?"

Jae blinked rapidly as he face fell. A tangled mess of emotions flitted across his face as he grappled with that. Anger won out at the end as it always did with this human.

"Since when do I care what Megumi does?!" Jae threw back heartlessly, "She's a rich princess and she can do whatever _t'fuck_ she wants!"

Kenka did not look impressed or convinced by the male's bravado.

He crossed his arms and opened his mouth to speak.

In the same moment Satako darted into the room.

The males knocked into the sinks with strangled oaths clutching their towels. Haku forgot them in that moment. All the air seemed to leave the room as Haku stared at the tiny human girl. She was not wearing her wig. The jagged scar from the operation that had saved her life cut across her skull plain for him to see. It could not be hidden even by the short crop of black hair returning to her head. Her indigo yukata much too big; she ran blindly, tripping on the trailing hem. Haku dropped to his knees skating forward on a gale to catch her. Easily he scooped her up. His insides thrilled with dismay for she weighed nothing.

At once he was holding her as he might a fragile bird.

Unfortunately his bird did not sing.

Satako all but shrieked in his ears.

 _"Don't go! Don't go! Don't go!"_


	14. Chapter 14

**HAKU**

Satako snuffled loudly in his ears as she flung her arms around his neck. Her tears burned like points of fire against his shoulder. Haku had endured both agony and madness beyond human comprehension. But, oh, the touch of these tears against his skin; they nearly broke him!

Haku forgot the other humans.

He forgot Bozu and Chouchin.

Blindly he fled the room carrying Satako with him.

The boards barely touched his feet as in a blast of wind he found himself in the kitchen. But it was not strange that he would instinctively choose to retreat here. This was the heart of the House. Onsen flooded into the rafters, lighting the hearth with the warmth of her presence. Kneeling at the nook Haku sat the human child down on the edge of the bench. She refused to sit just as she refused release him. Her tiny arms locked around his neck like a vice be could not resist. Towing him down, angrily she spoke halting through her sobs.

"Onsen told me you're leaving! You can't go! I just got you back! I didn't even get to see you at all! Now you're going away and probably for a long, long time! Just like last time but _longer_! I'll be old and ugly by the time you come back!"

Astonished by her knowledge, Haku held her close unsure of what else to do.

Smoothing his hand over the fuzz of her hair he murmured inanities.

"You will never be ugly, dear Satako."

She stamped her foot and continued to cry unabated.

"Yes I will! I'll be wrinkly and warty and you won't even recognize me!"

Gracelessly Haku sat back onto the tiles as she climbed into his lap.

Burying his face in the front of his yukata she revealed the truth of her dismay.

"Mom and dad are getting a divorce…"

Haku was startled by that revelation.

He had never met the child's father.

Minako-san did not speak of him; neither did Satako.

In this moment it became apparent why.

"Mom says we're going to move to Kyoto to live with my aunt. I don't want to go to Kyoto! Her house smells funny and is full of bugs."

Satako continued in a rush, no longer crying.

"Kai wants me to stay too. He says that if I move here I can go to school with him. He says they play taiko after school and they get to eat takoyaki all the time and that his teachers let him paint and draw whenever he wants. He says that there's a pirate festival in the summer and that when he grows up he'll take me out on a ride in his dad's boat. Please let me stay! Please! Onsen wants me to stay! She said so!"

Unconsciously his arms tightened around the human girl.

His heart thrilled into his throat at the thought of keeping her.

How wonderful it would be to keep this lovely cuckoo's child.

But this bird was not his to keep.

Staring blankly at the orange cushions Haku found his mouth perfectly dry.

His voice cracked, turning brittle as he spoke in the barest whisper.

"What of your mother?"

She blinked rapidly.

He could feel the flutter of her eyelashes.

"I'm sure mom'll get used to it here."

Haku cringed at the false confidence in her reply.

Oh, clever sweet child.

It was a terrible lie and Haku knew it.

Satako must have realized he was wise to her deception because all at once she went quiet. Then she hiccupped loudly. A frail smile pulled his lips in spite of the sorrow twisting a cold bitter blade in his heart. Picking her up Haku carried her to the sink and deposited her on the counter edge. She kicked her feet and watched him in brooding silence as he took a glass from the cabinet. This he filled with water before offering it to her. She accepted the glass, sipping it as she continued to hiccup. Onsen snapped and popped in the corner hearth as Haku frowned mildly at her snotty nose. He dampened a towel to clean her face as daylight continued to brighten the window behind her back. All the while Satako studied him with large melancholy brown eyes that reminded him far too much of the girl he had saved from drowning in a river years ago. She hiccupped again then sighed gustily, wilting as she sat down her glass.

"I can't stay here can I?"

Haku did not trust himself to speak as the pain in his heart pinched his throat.

He shook his head in a silent no.

Tears gleamed in the corners of her eyes again as she seized his hand.

Hope made them perfectly round.

"What about when I'm older? Can I come stay here when I'm grown up?"

Here he was able to nod yes, flashing her that same brittle smile.

This much he could offer her.

Haku prayed that fate would not make him a liar

Because she lit up like a firecracker in the dark.

"Can I wear a uniform like the other kami? Do I have to scrub Onsen's floors like Chihiro did in the movie? Do they really wash floors like that? What about the roof? Can I go up on the roof? Do I get my own room or do I have to share? Do we have to eat fish all the time or can we have okonomiyaki? What about takoyaki? Do you like takoyaki?"

At once she was leaning forward flooding him with a torrent of eager questions. Drowning in her exuberance Haku found himself holding a breath against a laugh.

The sunlight of her smile banished the cold pain haunting his heart.

He was not expecting the back door to open.

Haku was so startled that he loosed a gasp.

Onsen guttered in the wind of his surprise.

He found himself perched atop the stairs at the split curtain holding Satako tightly. The urge to run vibrating in his every bone as Michio lurched through the frame.

The female's synthetic hair was a mess, matted on one side where it had made a rude thin pillow where she had come to sleep. The green color matched the ill hue of her clammy skin and dark circles smudged beneath her eyes. All the way across the kitchen Haku could smell the stink of drink upon her. Kicking off her zori on the threshold the female shuffled along barefoot and cringing as if the act of moving made her sick. Her kimono, however, was badly bundled under her arm. The tie bound her obi dragged on the ground behind her. She was wearing a man's shirt and pants. Both were far too large. Where they had come from Haku did not know.

"Wow… You look really sick, Michio-san."

Satako leaned back in his arms to frown at the ailing female.

Haku recoiled as Michio glowered at them murderously.

"Move…"

He obeyed her muttered command, catching air as he vaulted off the banister, sailing over the nook to land lightly in her wake.

"Do that again! Do that again!"

At once Satako was yanking on the front of his yukata with a squeal of glee.

 _"Oi!"_ Michio called back irritably as she cringed from the sound, "Not so loud!

She sulked between the billowing curtains jabbing a thumb at the back door.

"Keiichi wants to talk to you."

Haku blinked only to turn toward the door. On the opposite side the young priest stood pale faced and taken aback as Haku's breeze flowed through the door in lazy gusts. He was dressed in the finest regalia kept by the shrine. The sumptuous silks of his blue, green, and white robes glittered in Onsen's pale firelight. The lacquered tail of the young priest's hat quivered comically as he trembled visibly. Quaking from head to toe the male bowed to him offering up a sasaki branch festooned with carefully folded paper.

" _Akemashite o-medetō_ , _O-kami-sama_."

Keiichi managed to pronounce the words without stuttering.

Setting Satako down Haku reverently repeat the words and returned his bow.

"Happiness on the opening of a new year, Keiichi-san."

Frowning as if confused by their exchange, Satako bobbed a short bow to the priest, glancing at Haku again and again as she tried to mimic his motions. Shyly she hid behind his knees as the young priest bowed to her with a faint smile before he crossed the threshold and offered the branch again. This Haku accepted graciously, bowing only to have Keiichi hastily bow in return. Haku was obligated to bow in return. After he and Keiichi exchanged yet another bout of bows Satako giggled. Finally the young priest pushed his glasses back up his nose and addressed Haku directly.

"My grandfather has had _hatsuyume_ , O-kami-sama. It is his will that I should bring you tidings of his vision."

Haku found himself frowning.

The first dream of the New Year was a powerful omen.

That the elder priest should choose to share it with him was not to be taken lightly.

"What is it that Goshiro-san has seen, young priest?"

Sweat had begun to bead on Keiichi's upper lip.

As he bowed again his glasses slipped right back down his nose.

"Grandfather has seen a mountain gorge full of enormous granite boulders. One is shaped like folding screen. Another is shaped like a pair of scissors. Others balance and pile as if placed by demons. Above it is a reservoir. There are mountains in the distance capped by snow. Do you know this place, O-kami-sama? Grandfather said you would know it."

Strangely, Haku was more than familiar with this place.

Humans built the reservoir right next to Yubaba's Spirit World crossing.

It flooded through at night when the boundaries between the worlds became thin.

The piles of stone in the gorge belonged to the Oni who guarded the original crossing, a cavern tunnel that wound deep into the hills. Yubaba hired the oni to clear and widen that tunnel so unsightly coal could enter by train unseen by the Gods. It was through this tunnel the Forgotten escaped past the river that once held it back.

"I am familiar with the Oni Rocks of Mizunami City."

Keiichi bowed again as if out of nervous habit.

It took every ounce of Haku's self control not to bow back.

"Grandfather cautions you to walk the Nakasendo with care when you seek the counsel of the oracle there, O-kami-sama. He says the stones are tired of being trodden by ungrateful feet. They have grown angry and may turn against travelers."

Haku went perfectly still as again that road rose to haunt him.

His thoughts flew back through time.

Back at the foot of the hill where Chihiro's parents home still stood.

Beneath the branches of the old hinoki whose stones houses held no Gods.

Along the ancient cobbles that led to a gate that still bridged the worlds.

Strange that this journey should begin where it had once before.

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Chihiro crouched at the corner of the slider of the women's changing room.

Bozu had left the sliding door to the men's side open.

That meant she could clearly eavesdrop on everything that was going on inside.

Megumi was leaning against the wall beside her listening just as intently.

Obviously uncomfortable, she fidgeted with the belt of her yukata.

"Do you do this a lot?"

Chihiro glanced at her before going back to listening at a crack in the door.

"Gods don't talk much. You gotta find other ways to figure out what's going on."

Megumi blinked rapidly as Haku's voice filtered from afar.

At once She was pulling on Chihiro's sleeve, fixing her with a demanding stare.

"You saw Kazue-sensei?"

Scowling now, Chihiro pulled the fabric out of her grip. All this was way too complicated to explain, especially how much that woman had managed to pissed Chihiro off. All the same, listening to Jae shout angrily in the opposite room, Chihiro watched Megumi's face tightened with anger and dismay. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to reveal the other half of that truth, if only for their sake.

"It's not as simple as Jae makes it out to be," Chihiro offered grudgingly, "Kazue didn't _abandon_ you."

Megumi's attention jerked back to her at that.

Already Chihiro could see the questions brewing in the woman's pale eyes.

Chihiro offered the answer because Meg could ask it.

"I don't know how much she knew. She did know what Haku is the moment she saw him. She strategically placed you in Haku's path because she knew he'd take care of you when all this went down."

Megumi looked back at her with a stare so intense it could've cut steel.

"How did she know!"

Chihiro shrugged in exasperation.

"Kazue's like me. Apparently she's wrapped up in all this God stuff."

Chihiro fell silent as Kenka started yelling.

She blinked and blinked because he didn't seem like the yelling type.

It was what Haku had to say in response that knocked Chihiro back onto her heels.

All at once she was forced face to face with the time she and her parents lost back in the summer of 2001. Three days she'd spent in Yubaba's Bath house. But those three days in the Spirit World panned out into weeks and week of human time. She'd lost her entire summer vacation. But even more terrifying had been the six months Haku spent wandering after being freed from his bargain with Yubaba. That had become almost ten years of her human lifetime. There was no way to know how long they would be forced to spend in the Spirit World once they crossed. Like Haku said, it could be months or even years of human time before they returned.

Stunned, Chihiro was forced face to face with the consequences.

To everyone in her mortal life if would seem like she just disappeared.

Her parents, Lydia, everyone who didn't know about the second life she'd chosen.

She would just disappear.

Yanked back to the present Chihiro flinched as Jae shouted distantly. Megumi gave a violent start as Jae talked about her in not so nice terms. Megumi's face went completely blank as she sank to a seat on the floor beside Chihiro. Scrambling to make room for her Chihiro gritted her teeth as she watched stunned tears of outrage gather in the woman's eyes. And it was only because of what Kenka told her that Chihiro understood why Megumi was so upset. Anyone else probably would've thought that the two of them hated each other's guts. They probably did hate each other's guts. But as usual, that was only half the story.

Megumi wasn't the only one upset either. Chihiro jolted as Satako was shouting in dismay. She jerked away from the door as it rattled loudly. Wind surged around the frame as abruptly the girl's voice tapered off. Again Chihiro scrambled out of the way as Megumi threw herself to her feet and hauled open the slider. It violently slammed against the adjacent wall, jumping and screeching in its tracks, making the entire bath wing shake. Across the way through the open door to the men's changing room Chihiro watched as Kenka and Jae jumped and skittered just like the sliding door.

Heat flooded her face as she realized they were only wearing towels.

"Oh, shit!" Jae muttered beneath his breath as he watched Megumi stalked by.

Clutching his towel around his waist he ran after her.

"Meg! Megumi, wait!"

"Fuck you, peasant!" Megumi shouted furiously.

Chouchin darted out into the hall curiously following the sounds of their voices.

Sitting there completely exposed Chihiro blinked as Bozu waved at her.

Red in the face and feeling like an idiot, she waved back.

Kenka was smirking at her as he placed his hands on his hips.

All at once she was studying his feet as her face burned.

He was way too cut and she was staring.

"Are you spying again, Chihiro?"

She cringed guiltily.

"Sorry."

Kenka chuckled, coming over to offer his hand, helping her upright.

"Thanks," Chihiro muttered.

Tucking her hair behind her ears she went back to staring at his toes until Chouchin came tearing back down the hall crackling incandescent red. Kenka yanked her out of the way as Jae came sprinting back down the hall. Chihiro squealed and slapped her hands over her eyes as she realized he was butt naked!

"Ah!" Bozu screeched indignantly, "Why is foul-mouthed human naked!"

 _"Dude!"_ Kenka exclaimed as if not sure if he should be pissed or laugh.

Chihiro peeked only to find him still nude and rummaging in the cabinet.

Dancing from foot to foot uncomfortably she closed her eyes for good measure.

Why was her house full of naked, _naked_ men!

Jae chortled breathlessly.

"Man! She took my towel to make me go away! Can you believe it! I didn't think she'd have the balls! But she didn't even blush or nothing!"

Kenka sighed in exasperation.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jae crowed nastily, "Look what the cat dragged in."

Jerking back her hands Chihiro watched as Michio sulked down the hall. Wait… She was wearing guy's clothes! Suddenly she had a terrible vision of some poor fellow waking up naked only to find his clothes stolen. Tossing her bundled kimono onto the floor in the woman's bath wing, Michio gingerly planted herself on the edge of the bench in the woman's changing room before finally glowering across the hall at Jae like she wanted to bite his head off.

"Fuck you, asshole."

Jae laughed, completely nonplussed by her crass greeting.

At least he was dressed now, wearing one of Onsen's indigo yukata.

"Like I said, sweetheart; happy to oblige anytime."

"Really?" Michio threw back archly, "Because if you hadn't gotten such a hard on for that magic bullshit last night you could've gotten lucky instead of that skinny guy serving drinks downstairs at the bar."

That shut Jae up. He blinked rapidly opening and closing his mouth only to go stock still in surprise as Michio pulled her shirt over her head so she could read the name tag still pinned on the shirt pocket. She wasn't wearing anything underneath.

"Hey, Chihiro? D'you know anybody named Matsuyama?"

With every inch of her face on fire Chihiro scrambled forward and hauled the sliding door to the woman's changing room closed behind her. But before Chihiro could bitch her out Michio dropped the shirt and lurched to her feet, staggering to the door leading to the toilet. Dumping onto the green tiles inside the tiny room she tore up the seat and puked her guts out into the bowl. As she continued to hurl and wretch Chihiro went and got a glass of water from the sink. This she placed on the ground within reaching distance as Michio hung from the edge of the toilet gasping for air and making all kinds of unhappy sounds.

"You okay?" Chihiro murmured gently.

Michio shuddered violently, turning her face away.

"Fuck off."

Chihiro snorted mildly.

"Happy New Year to you too."

"Just go away, Chihiro," Michio slurred morosely, "I'm still drunk and pissed and I don't want to do anything else I regret."

Ah. So that explained the shirt incident. Sitting back on her heels Chihiro looked on feeling more than sorry for her friend. Gods, she was such a mess. At least she wasn't wearing a shirt. But at least whatever hadn't ended up in the toilet bowl would at least wash off. Scooting into the stall Chihiro tried to extricate her friend from the floor.

"C'mon, Michi. Let's get you cleaned up."

Lurching sideways she sprawled, pined herself between the wall and the toilet.

"Are you stupid or somethin'! I told you t'go away!"

Exasperated, Chihiro was pulling on her arm again.

"I'm just trying to help! Gods, you're such a mess!"

Michio resisted, snarling as she ripped herself free.

Reeling back her fist she punched Chihiro in the mouth.

It knocked her backwards onto the carpet so hard she saw stars.

She could taste blood in her mouth as she flopped onto her side.

"I don't want your _fucking help!_ I don't _need_ you! I don't want any of this _shit!"_

Chihiro could barely hear Michio over the ringing in her ears.

Heaving herself upright Chihiro lurched away.

Hauling the sliding door open she stumbled into the hall.

Bright light flooded through the sliders, blinding her momentarily.

She tripped on the ledge leading into the welcome station.

She would've fallen if Suzume hadn't caught her.

Chihiro ran right into the fox. Stunned and numb, Chihiro stared up at him as the fox gently lifted her chin with his frozen hand. His uneven hair fell around his face in a white curtain to match his simple colorless robes. Only his feral gold eyes held color. They burned with silent fury as he stared at the blood on her mouth. Panic surged in her chest as he turned toward the bath wing.

 _"She didn't mean it!"_

Chihiro hissed through her teeth even though it hurt like hell! But even as she caught his arm and pulled with all her might her bare feet squeaked against the boards, burning with hot friction as he dragged her down the hall. Suzume growled beneath his breath. The sound made her insides scramble up into her throat on a surge of terror as her knees all but dissolved.

Because he didn't have to obey to her anymore.

All the same she pleaded with him to listen.

 _"Please, Suzume!"_

Abruptly the fox came to a halt as her voice went shrill.

Suzume barked low and sharp, making her jump.

He chewed the words as if trying to tear them to pieces.

"She drew _blood_ , child!"

Even though it was no use Chihiro pulled him in the opposite direction.

All the same, she pulled insistently finding strange a calm in that moment.

Whatever it was made her words more than compelling.

It turned out to be truth.

"Whatever it is you plan to do or say nothing will come close to how bad she's going to feel when she sobers up. Just leave it, okay?"

For some reason he flinched as if what she'd said had struck him.

Glancing up she found his pale face stricken with distant memory.

Without another word the fox turned.

Threading his arm around her waist Suzume briskly marshaled her up the front stairs and into Mrs. Nikkou's room. She stumbled along as directed because she really didn't have much of a choice. As the door closed behind them, folding the room in an obscuring darkness, the fox eased her to a seat on the foot of the old woman's bed. The cat was curled into a tight knot on one of the corners. She woke with a violent start, bristling out as she shied from with wide eyed surprise.

Ignoring Cinna, Suzume sat seiza at Chihiro's feet. Leaning close, he took hold of her chin with his frozen hand. Even after all this time it still smelled faintly of burned charcoal. Camphor and sweet, musty, spicy things almost like incense; she loved the way Suzume smelled. Chihiro obeyed as he tipped it back, trying not to cringe as carefully he drew a finger across the split in her lip. It stung like a _bitch_ , making her squirm and grit her teeth! But he held onto her chin as she resisted, making her jaw ache. Chihiro stared at his face, fixating to endure the pain.

The fox's features tightened with concentration.

She'd forgotten how handsome he was.

His eerie golden eyes flashed as an electric shock jumped between them.

Sitting back Suzume released her chin and the breath he had been holding.

Frowning mildly, he wiped at her mouth with the corner of his sleeve.

Chihiro blinked rapidly as the pain in her mouth was gone.

Her lip tingled eerily, making the burn on her thigh give a sympathetic tickle.

She wiggled her jaw experimentally and found it didn't hurt

Unfortunately there wasn't anything the fox could do for the ache in her chest.

Disappointment burned in her heart like an open wound. It hurt way more than any punch to the face. Numbly Chihiro reminded herself this was the way Michio coped with things she couldn't handle. Chihiro would never understand why Michio felt like she had to prove she didn't need anyone or anything when really the opposite was true. It was obvious that Michio was scared stupid of losing people she cared about. But the moment someone looked like they might actually stick around Michio would self-sabotage. Invariable she'd get drunk and gather up the things she cared about most so she could try to break them. Usually this took shape as epic screaming matches that involved throwing Tetris blocks. But no matter how loud she yelled, no matter what kind of messed up stuff Michio summoned to taunt her with, Chihiro could always see through her antagonism to the bitter fear motivating her friend.

But this was this was the first time Michio'd ever hit her.

This time Michio drew blood.

Chihiro's insides tightened with cold as premonition brewed over her head.

Something had changed between them; something irreversible.

Not knowing what it was scared Chihiro stupid.

Cinna padded over and rubbed her face against her back. Chihiro blinked in surprise realizing fat tears were rolling down her cheeks. The cat hugged her from behind, purring and purring until Chihiro was vibrating with her affection. Cinna rubbed her face back and forth against the top of her head with such exuberance Chihiro found herself wincing again. Hastily she wiped at her cheeks fighting a frail smile. It was hard to cry when a cat was mauling you with affection.

"Enough, Okesa." Suzume commanded gently.

Cinna released Chihiro only to curl up around her still purring, plucking and kneading the quilt with her claws. The fox stood, bowing at the altar before crossing the room. Glancing at the memorial Chihiro stared at Reika's photo. The old woman beamed out of the frame over the edge of her gold rimmed glasses, pulling Chihiro's heart into a tight knot of sadness. Then the fox emerged from the closet full of memories. Reverently he carried a medium-sized box. It wasn't quite a suitcase but it wasn't a trunk either. This he placed at her feet without further explanation.

"That is for you, child. I should have given it to you sooner."

Cinna went bolt still as she caught sight of the box, fur standing on end and eyes dilating until the red of her irises disappeared. At once she sprinted from the room with a violent hiss. The only evidence of her passing was a gust of air and the sound of the door snicking shut. Chihiro jittered sideways, looking back and forth between the door and the fox in open-mouthed surprise before gesturing after the cat.

"W-what was that about!"

Suzume sighed in aggravation, turning away to pace as he said nothing.

Baffled and intrigued, Chihiro pulled the box closer.

Her bell in her heart hummed sleepily as she found herself mesmerized by the fittings. The bronze was so old it'd turned completely green. The latch and the hinges were shaped like tiny oni, grimacing and glaring comically. Grabbing and turning the tongue of the oni that was the front lock, the mechanism clicked like a winding clock. Finally it snapped, darting inward so that the lip popped, lifting a fraction as the heady smell of camphor wood escaped the interior. Opening the top it the rest of the way open Chihiro gaped in surprise.

The mask inside flashed like a burst of liquid fire as it caught filters of sun. She hadn't seen the phoenix since summer matsuri. Mrs. Nikkou loaned it to her for the day. Looking at it now Chihiro realized it wasn't just any mask. It was made of magic, soaked through with the touch of the Spirit World. Lifting it out, she studied the gorgeous gold edges rounded by layers upon layers of cinnabar lacquer. Demurely the mask smiled secretively, the corners of the oculars and mouth curved up into curls to match the flowing feather motifs that gently shaped the brow into a comb outlined in solid gold leaf.

It was camphor wood.

She could smell the raw red scent emanating from its interior.

It almost felt hot beneath her fingers.

Unnerved, she sat it on the bed beside her only to find a wad of indigo rags neatly folded beneath. Thinking that it was just packing material Chihiro fished it out and was about to toss it aside. But then it fell open in her hands, revealing what she mistook for trash was actually a folded robe. Surprised, Chihiro shook it out only to find it was a narrow sleeved kimono patched together from hundreds of variegated strips of indigo cloth that had gone velvet to the touch with use. Some where delicately patterned, others were solid, some darker than black, other pale as forget-me-nots. Slowly her surprise turned to astonishment as she realized the patches were actually carefully pieced patterns. Her mouth fell open in awe as she realized the stitched motifs were actually foxfire! Twining blue flames coiled in licking tongues from every hem, collar, and cuff picked out in long lines of delicate white quilted stitching. More indigo fire danced in endless curls up the narrow sleeves and across the yoked shoulders.

Nothing she owned, not even the gorgeous kimono Onsen had loaned her, could compare to the coat's earthy texture and fascinating networks of stitchery. It had never occurred to her to do something like this. She'd never in her life even held a sewing needle. People just didn't save and reuse fabric like this anymore. They just threw away anything old, shabby, or unwanted. But the jacket had to be one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen! She'd never seen anything like it!

Then Chihiro recognized one of the newest patches.

It was rougher than the other patches.

The color of the indigo dye was the brightest.

There was no mistaking Onsen's yukata fabric.

She wore it often enough to know it immediately.

Then all at once Chihiro understood. The jacket probably belonged to Mrs. Nikkou! Before her it probably belonged to Mrs. Nikkou's mom and her mom before it! Each woman must have made repairs and embellishments, adding a touch of their personal flair through the selection and placement of scraps from their used-up clothes, continuing the jacket's story as they stitched their mark into the jacket's fabric. The warp and weft buzzed with both age and magic. Chihiro gathered it close in her hands, breathing in the heady smell of camphor that clung to the fibers.

Tears of shame stung her eyes as she rubbed her nose in the cloth.

She held in her hands history itself.

And her first reaction was to call it trash.

Reverently laying the jacket aside she peered back into the box wondering what else was inside. Next she produced a pair of voluminous trousers ingeniously patched from dark and light fabric to form inverted chevron patterns across both legs. They were super cool and looked really comfy. Tucked into its folds was a pair of tabi and wide leg wrappings shed seen monks wear. Both were dyed in indigo so dark they were almost black. Binding these together was a narrow obi made of long thin strips of the palest blue quilted in close curling spirals of more dark indigo threads. Underneath these she found another set of robes made out of nubby cream-colored raw silk too soft and thin to be anything but underwear.

Here Chihiro paused as the bottom of the box seemed to grow further away. It became deeper and deeper until her whole arm disappeared inside. Slowly she drew out a long narrow envelope of lavishly brocaded fabric. Just touching it made her insides race and scramble with shudders of cold magic. Already she knew what was inside. Carefully she folded back the material with shaking fingers, holding her breath. Echoing with age, Mrs. Nikkou's bow and red fletched arrow gleamed in the dark. Slowly, as if afraid it might scold her for handling it improperly, Chihiro returned the bow and arrow it to their covering. With careful reverence she laid these on the bed beside her because there were still more things inside the endless fascinating box!

The next bundle let loose a muffled jingle that made Suzume shudder and shift. Inside Chihiro found an ancient red lacquered handle festooned at the hilt with five colored ribbons and embellished in tarnished metal fittings. Fed through the thick coiled wire were a score of greened bronze bells that just like the one's Kazue had used. Holding her breath Chihiro muffled it back up before carefully setting it down without making another sound. Next she found a long string of carnelian jewels shaped like commas. They looked just like the blue jewel Hidé gave her but bigger.

The last thing in the box was another drawstring bag. It was made of padded black silk as if to protect the globe shaped object inside. Whatever it was seemed hollow. It was extremely light. Untying the black ribbon she peered inside only to loose a violent shriek. Dropping it back into the box Chihiro jumped up, knocking right into Suzume.

It was a skull! A bleached _human_ skull complete with jaw hinged in gold wire!

Pulling on Suzume's sleeves Chihiro pointed at thing in insistent horror.

"Enough, child!"

The fox batted at her hands, dislodging her panic as he growled irritably.

"Do not ask me what they do for I do not know! This is _human_ magic, not kami. These belonged to Reika. Before her they belonged to her mother and her mother's mother. Now they, and the mysteries that accompany, belong to you."

Still in a panic she stared at the strange objects at a complete loss.

Taking a deep breath Chihiro fought to find calm, forcing herself to stillness.

Because she'd seen much worse than a human skull.

She could handle a bit of bone after what'd happened in the spider caverns. As if summoned by the thought her insides crawled in frozen horror as the she remembered the brittle pop of spider casings beneath the grinding motorcycle wheels. She could feel the cold flecks of wet the glistening tires threw up in her face; taste the stale musty air and smell the terrible sweet stink of burning flesh. At once sick to her stomach as the blood froze inside her veins, Chihiro remember that she'd _killed_ things! Her fingers tips tingled with the searing memory of fire she'd rained into a chorus of shrill ghastly screams. She almost clamped her hands over her ears to stop the sounds inside her head!

Haunted by death she stared at the skull.

It looked back at her with hollow eyes.

Its two front teeth were missing making it grin with grisly humor.

Tightening her hands into fists Chihiro glared back because there was nothing funny about any of this! In a blinding rush of white-hot sorrow that made it hard to breathe Chihiro found herself wishing Mrs. Nikkou was still here. She would've been happy to see her creepy little-kid ghost even though the brat had all but pushed her off a cliff. Mrs. Nikkou seemed to think she had nothing left to teach her. Boy was she wrong.

True, Chihiro had experienced way more than the average human when it came to kami.

All the same, an idiot that kept their mouth shut was still an idiot.

She was beginning to get a handle on her fire. She didn't need a lighter to get it started anymore. But that didn't mean it worked all the time. Remembering the way her fire had fizzled out when Aki came after her in the shrine grotto Chihiro's insides went bleak with cold. Likewise, just because she didn't freak out around kami didn't mean she understood them. Chihiro was still trying to wrap her brain around how to be a functional human. Kami etiquette included a baffling set of protocols and rituals she knew absolutely nothing about. Her strained exchange with Kazue was evidence of that. Even though he tried really, _really_ hard to help her understand, Haku was an inherently cryptic person. Lin was way better than him at explaining kami related stuff.

But Lin was gone; so was Mrs. Nikkou.

Chihiro'd lost both of her teachers.

It was becoming painfully obvious she was going to have to figure this out herself.

Suzume sighed, leading her back to a seat at the foot of the futon so he could stretch out on quilt as if exhausted. As he did the fox rolled over and made a pillow out of her knee. Chihiro jumped in surprise nearly dislodging him because his cheek was burning cold! Again Suzume sighed in gusty irritation as he settled once more, placing one of her hand on his hair, wordlessly encouraging her to smooth the tangled mess. Hastily she began running a hand over his head absently worrying if this counted as petting. But he didn't relax, not even as she carefully picked out the snarls, fanning the uneven mess of his pale silky mane out across her leg. She could feel the tension radiating from his body as finally he spoke.

"Tell me now, child."

Suzume demanded beneath his breath.

"Tell me what you saw of Hayashimi."

It was more of a plea than a command.

Chihiro's insides went cold as she realized she never did tell him what she saw. Taking a deep breath against the sudden surge of terror that filled her throat with a tight pinch, she closed her eyes. Even as her heart thrilled in her chest, she struggled to sort through the foggy flashes Sengen's mirror had dumped into her head. She tiptoed through the shards of light as if they were broken pieces of glass afraid her hands might come away red if she touched them. Already a strange premonition was creeping across her skin. Cold sweat headed on her upper lip as the bell hummed a low tone. She jolted in surprise as it sounded again in the ear of her mind.

Because it wasn't a bell; it was the hollow breathy far off whistle.

As her eyes flew open Chihiro gasped.

Suzume jolted upright beside her, seizing her by the arms.

His hands hurt as they squeezed, but she didn't feel

The ghost of an image flashed in the back of her eyes just for a second.

But with it the uncertainty that pushed her to do stupid things died in her heart.

Chihiro reached unconsciously for what she'd seen.

Her hand stretched to the east, pointing without realizing it.

It was the direction where she'd heard the whistle blow.

"Aki was right!"

Chihiro breathed in amazement.

"They're on that train!"


	15. Chapter 15

**LIN**

Trapping the rice bowl between her knees Lin scooped the contents into her mouth with her bare hand, stuffing her face so full she could barely chew let alone breathe. She managed both, snatching up the soup, spilling some down her front as greedily she gulped down the savory tangy brew. Dropping the vessel onto the floor she turned back to the empty rice bowl, using her filthy fingers to pick out and eat every last grain. She didn't even remember guzzling the cup of tea. It burned her mouth and throat but she didn't care. The food barely filled the aching pit inside her belly that screamed for more. Gods above, she was so _hungry!_ Lin searched the gloom for her soup bowl, seriously considering licking it clean.

Only then did she realize Tomoe was staring at her.

It was nearly impossible to see him in the thick dark of her cell.

But her eyes were adjusting.

The ghost's face was a blank mask of alarm.

Wiping her mouth on the back of her only hand Lin glared at him.

"What?!"

The ghost blinked endless jet eyes before bobbing an apologetic bow.

 _"Shall I find you more food, Lin-sama?"_

She almost said yes. Instead Lin picked up Umi's knife, inspecting the point and edge to make sure she hadn't damaged it before secreting it away into the inner fold of her obi. Lin fought the nagging tug of exhaustion as the lolling motion of the train continued to rock her from side to side. Pinning Tomoe in place with her gaze she grimaced as her stomach growled loudly.

"No. I'm worried you might not come back."

The ghost frowned as if wanting to argue but she wasn't paying attention anymore. Already her insides were twisting with fear. Tightening her hand into a fist against her knee Lin hurriedly hissed the words beneath her breath half afraid someone might hear.

"Have you seen my kits?!"

Again he nodded slowly, making her want to grab and shake him.

 _"Shurui has them in the main car. Ikiri-san is there as well."_

Forced upright by the anxious vice winding her insides tighter and tighter, Lin stalked back and forth in the tiny cell. Grinding her teeth she tightened her only hand in the snarled mess of her hair trying not to throw herself at the unlocked door and go off in search of her babies. Sick with wanting and worry, it was impossible to think about anything else! The ghost glided aside, taking a seat on one of the rotting benches, silently watching her pace like the trapped animal she was. The intensity of his gaze made her skin skitter and crawl, reminding her too much of the way the shadows used to stare at her from the nooks and crannies of Yubaba's broken bath house once the gaki got loose.

 _"If you wish it, Lin-sama, I will free you from this place. We could follow from afar. We could seek an opportunity to reclaim your children."_

She lurched to stillness as Tomoe's quiet offer nearly got swallowed by another blast of the train's whistle. Again she burned with shame as the promise of freedom tipped the scales in her heart. Already she had been offered this chance. Shurui had bargained with her for Kokoro. She'd refused that bargain and now Shurui could use her daughter as leverage to make Lin stay. There was no knowing what the spider bitch would do to her daughter if Lin ran off now. Probably give her to the bat. Nauseous horror threatened to make Lin loose what she'd eaten. She staggered backwards and dumped onto the opposite seat. Bent beneath the crushing weight of worry Lin pressed her face into her only hand, lightheaded and shaky with terror.

"No," she choked between her fingers, "I won't leave me kits."

Again the ghost stirred and fidgeted as if wanting to argue. But he kept his peace. Lin was extremely grateful for that. It wasn't his fault, but she probably would've gone after him with the knife again out of sheer spite had he argued.

 _"What then is your will, Lin-sama?"_

"Call me Lin, Tomoe," she bit back irritably, "You make me nervous with all that lord and lady crap."

Grabbing hold of her anger she used it to smash the helpless terror quaking in the marrow of her bones. Letting it burn and scorch her insides, Lin fell back on old habits. Opening the door on the darker half of her soul born in the battles she'd fought and lost in the broken pit of Yubaba's bath house, Lin let loose the murderous bloodlust she'd used to hunt down the gaki that killed her friends. Again she used the terrible emotions to summon an unbending strength born of the bitter need for revenge. Slowly the cold spread through her heart, coursing through her veins as she transformed herself to stone. With a detached calm that hid all of the rage in her heart Lin told the ghost exactly what she was going to do.

"I'm going to stay here. I'll wait as long as I have to. I do whatever that spider bitch commands me to make it seem like I've broken. But I won't break. One way or another I _will_ kill her! I _will_ take back my babies and I _will_ get them out of this hell!"

As Lin continued to silently boil and froth the ghost sighed despairingly.

 _"As you wish, Lin-sama. I shall remain with you until it is so."_

Glaring at him again as his bleak tone riled her hackles, Lin bared sharp teeth. But before she could bite back at him Tomoe's head jerked up. Lin recoiled from his swiftness as the ghost surged toward the door listening intently.

 _"Someone is coming!"_

Lin knocked back against the wall as at once he whirled, floating weightlessly and completely unaffected by the lurching sway of the car. Gathering the bowls and cups back onto the tray, Lin's insides scramble uncomfortably as Tomoe turned, at once wearing the vacant-eyed face of a young woman as he became a spider. He was dressed in the same black, red, and yellow striped kimono he had turned up in earlier. The ruse he was wearing wore her long oiled tresses were piled up on her head in a ridiculously ornate fashion Lin want to rip down and pull out hair by hair. Her flashy obi bore the hour-glass pattern that marked all the spiders. Standing there expectantly finally tipping from side to side with the motion of the room, Tomoe smiled vapidly at the door.

It flew open, slamming against the wall, making Tomoe jump and shy.

A second spider sputtered furiously filling the doorway with her tall frame.

She was dressed from head to toe in the black lacquered armor of a soldier.

Her many hands were holding sharp lances of silk at the ready.

"You little idiot! Why is this door unlocked!? Where is Yaeko!?"

Her pale face was tight with fury inside the winged helmet strapped to her pointed shin. This spider was much older, long faced and sharp-toothed. There was a new wound on her cheek stitched closed with silk. Her hard red eyes were shrewd and her movement controlled in the way only someone who knew how to fight properly would move. The other scars on her nose and forehead were proof of that.

Tomoe cowered, falling to his knees trembling visibly as he hid under the tray.

The cups and bowls rattled loudly as he stuttered in a shrill female voice.

"D-d-don't know where Yaeko-san went, o-nee-san! T-t-told me t'bring food to t'weasel. D-d-didn't know Yaeko-san had left! Sorry, o-nee-san! Sorry!"

Bowing and bowing, Tomoe spilled the cups and bowls from the tray. The soldier spider snorted as she looked on in annoyance as Tomoe scramble to gather them up as they rolled and spun in the rocking gait of the train's chugging. Watching from the corner of her eyes Lin was impressed. The ghost was good. Earlier he'd been smooth and convincing with the other guard. Now he easily he became an empty headed simpleton. Lin wouldn't've looked twice unless she knew otherwise. Thoroughly duped, the soldier spider sighed, obviously feeling sorry for scaring Tomoe.

"Just don't do it again, little sister. This one is not to be trusted."

Lin flinched as the spider's hard stare turned to her.

Instantly she folded in on herself in a ruse of meekness.

Unconvinced, the spider pointed at her with a sharp lance of silk.

"You! Come with me. Mother told me I could kill you if you try anything. She doesn't need you anymore. We've got plenty of sisters on board who can wet nurse."

Lin blinked in confusion.

What did she mean plenty of sisters?

Before she could consider it further the guard moved out of the frame pointing down the hall with one of the lances of silk. Moving slow and stiff as if every inch of her body hurt, Lin struggled upright into the deception of exhaustion. It took every ounce of her self control not to glance at Tomoe as she limped out of the cell, tipping unsteadily as the car gave a sideways jerk. Iron shutters covered the windows in the corridor outside, but dim light spilled down the hall emanating from the pallid mushi trapped in glass bulbs affixed to the ceiling. They listed back and forth inside their prisons as the car continued to sway. The ancient interior of the corridor was soaked through and nearly rotting with age, smelling strongly of rust and other old human scents. Lin flinched as a sharp point pricked her back.

"Move!" The solider commanded.

Lin lurched forward, bracing her hand against the wall as the floor pitched. Closed iron doors passed her by one after the other until all that remained was narrow latched door. Wind gusted through as she opened it, flooding the rickety connection between the cars. Drowning in the roaring _clickity-click_ of wheels and the shrill screech of metal on metal, Lin's stomach scrambled away from the gap between the cars she was forced to step across. All the same, her insides thrilled again at the dusty dry scent of mountains that hung just out of reach. Splinters of daylight filtered in through cracks in the narrow accordion plastic hull that connected the cars.

The spider hissed behind her, shoving her through the opposite sliding door.

Lin spilled forward into another corridor.

This one, however, teemed with laughter and music.

The happy sounds slapped Lin in the face. They surfaced out of the roar of wind as the spider hauled the door behind her shut. Forced forward again by the sharp point of the soldier's lance, Lin stumbled past the glass windows of the compartments filling this car. No iron shutters here. Inside each young sweet-faced god women laughed and chattered as they drank tea and sake, eating bowls of rice and playing cards, some barely more than children. Shamisen and biwa twanged in their hands their sweet voices sang in choruses that struck a harsh chord of memory in her heart. Their voices reminded her far too much how the way Natsumi would sing with Hiko and Ginka. Some turned to stare at her in terrified awe as the soldier forced her by; their round red eyes full of terror as if she was some kind of monster. Their voices and songs silenced as she passed. Lin stared back at them dumbstruck with horror as the ruse of her tremulous knees became real.

Every single last one of them was a spider.

Gold and silver hour-glasses gleamed in the light of the mushi.

But these weren't the black-shelled monsters that had destroyed her home.

These women weren't even the hard faced solider at her back.

Stunned and ill with confusion Lin stumbled as the car lurched.

She caught the rail outside a compartment before she could fall.

Lin came nose to nose with a spider on the opposite side of the glass.

She stared in horror at the young mother.

Hastily the spider hid her baby, cringing with a shriek of fear.

"Move! Can't you see you're scaring them!?"

The soldier shoved her forward with an angry bark.

Dead on her feet, Lin threw herself forward, desperate to escape the sight of the tiny white face cradled in the mother's many arms. Again they scrambled through another joint between cars. Lin's knees went weak once more on the opposite side, but this time because of the wall of delicious smells that waited for her. Sweltering heat radiated off the walls, making Lin instantly break out in a sweat, because a kitchen filled the entire length of this car. Just ahead of them yawned a well stocked pantry of canned goods and other human sundries in such quantity Lin was left wondering just how many spiders were on the train. A mountain of dishes listed and clinked in the sloshing sinks beyond. Beyond these gigantic pots boiled great clouds of steam smelling strongly of miso. Fish tails protruded from wide sizzling pans. Red licking flames of human fire burst between the grates of an enormous stove beneath, throwing wild shadows down the long narrow space as humming exhaust fans whizzed and whirred in the ceiling.

At the center of the kitchen was Kubi.

The God woman's sleeves were trussed behind her back. Her green kimono was drenched with sweat that made her upswept hair wilt. She was bent over the long narrow cutting board that divided the car in two. A sea of bowls listed and skittered across the surface. Into each the blank faced prisoner doled a large scoop of steamed rice. She hauled along a massive rice pot even though she looked ready to keel over. But she endured the work without complaint and all because of the iron collar around her neck. On the other side of the long narrow work table was a very unhappy soldier spider. She was shorter than and not nearly as self-possessed as her sister. Anxiously eyeing the human fire, she leaned away as far as possible. But she couldn't get far because of the leash she held in her hands. She had to follow back and forth in Kubi's shadow as the unfortunate God woman worked.

Upon seeing them the second spider stomped her foot petulantly.

"My shift has been over for almost an hour, Shimizu!"

The littler spider complained loudly, sounding more like a child than a solider.

Glancing from their corners Kubi's eyes went perfectly sound as she saw them.

They stared at each other without blinking as they passed.

Again the stranger's gaze soaked Lin through with her silent intensity.

If only she could hear all the things rattling around in that woman's head!

The taller spider snorted at her sister in annoyance as she shoved Lin forward.

"Quit complaining, Juna. You'll be done soon enough."

Lin's insides went cold because they argued like siblings.

Juna cringed as the stove flames hissed, appealing again to Shimizu.

"Find Haru, will you!? I bet she's hiding so she doesn't have to take her shift."

The littler spider was frowning as Lin approached.

Quickly her frown became a glare.

"You better be nice to Fumiko or I'll kill you myself."

"Fumiko can take care of herself," Shimizu bit back irritably.

Propelling Lin through the far door and another gut-wrenching wind buffeted car crossing, they passed into yet another coach only to discover the floor and walls made entirely of reddish wood. These had been cleaned to a sparkling finish whereas the rest of the train had been left to rot. The dim air was thick with humidity that smelled sharply of wet cedar. Instantly the scent triggered Lin's memories of Onsen. Stunned, she was left at the mercy of sudden tears as her throat closed painfully. Swallowing angrily, Lin gritted her teeth and fought the visceral response as it surged in her chest beyond her control. In that moment another spider emerged from a compartment in a plume of herbal scented steam. Fumiko's long hair was sensibly knotted on top of her head. The perfect oval face was a vision of ideal beauty except for her terrible red eyes. Dressed in a red and black checkered yukata bound with a narrow yellow obi kilted high to leave her white legs bare, the spider greeted the soldier with a well mannered bow.

"Hello, Shimizu-san."

Bobbing an awkward bow the guard heaved Lin forward.

"Clean this one up, will you Fumiko? Mother wants her presentable. Careful, though; I hear this one is tricky. I'll be right outside if she tries anything."

Without any of her sister's grace Shimizu plunked down on the bench that ran the length of the corridor. Skewering her spears into the wood floor she took off her helmet with one pair of hands, smoothing her matted hair with another as the last pair produced a fan to waft her already sweat beaded face. The bath attendant spider took all of this in with a mild moue.

"Must you ruin my floor, Shimizu-san? I have worked hard to see them clean."

The soldier broke off the end of one of her lances and used it to pick her teeth.

"Don't get too attached, Fumi-chan. We're not going to be here long."

Lin flinched as the bath attendant turned her back on the soldier only to bow to her with the same civility she had showed her sister. Lin was left gaping, flabbergasted by her civility. Opening the door she had just emerged from inside Lin could see the gleam of bath tiles. Fumiko gestured with more than one set of hands that made Lin extremely nervous.

"This way, please."

As Lin hesitated the soldier planted her foot on Lin's rear and pushed hard.

Lin caught herself on the frame to keep from falling.

"You heard her, weasel woman. Get going."

"Shimizu!" Her sister scolded angrily, "She's a guest!"

Again the soldier spider snorted, this time forebodingly.

"No. She's a prisoner. And don't you forget it."

Seeing red again, Lin gritted her teeth to the point that something snapped in her jaw, quickly entered the wash room to keep herself from turning and dissecting the soldier spider limb by limb. Once inside Lin came up short as Fumiko followed and shut the door behind them. Lin forgot the spider, staring stupidly at the tiny but gracious appointments of the narrow dressing room. Three times as many mushi clambered in the glass bells affixed to the ceiling, filling the room with bright light that made Lin's eyes hurt. There was a low table and two sitting cushion on of all things a tiny berth of tatami mat. A scroll painting hung in a nook on the far wall swaying side to side as again the train's whistle shrilled its hollow screech. Through an open adjacent sliding door Lin could see the eddying water in the large wooden tub set into a recess in the austere grout and tile floor humans seemed to favor. Lin frowned at the ceramic wishing it was wood.

"May I help you?"

Lin jerked away as the spider put a hand on the tie of her obi. Without realizing it she had whirled with her balled fist raised. Fumiko knocked back against the wall turning her face aside as she cringed behind the flock of her pale pretty hands. But the spider didn't call for help even though fear was plain in her bloody red eyes. Grinding her teeth, again it took every shred of Lin's self control not to smash in the spider's beautiful face. Chewing a score of hideous insults Lin forced herself to lower her hand and spit out a single civil word.

"No!"

Somewhat shakily the spider nodded, wordlessly motioning to the bath with her tremulous hand. Lin turned and stared at the tub. There was a wooden stool beside it on which was a small bucket. Inside a white wash cloth and cake of soap waited patiently. On the wall hook hung a clean spider silk yukata. Half of her wanted to refuse it just to spite the spider. The other half wanted to dive in head first. As her skin itched with filth and dried blood Lin caved. Striding through, she slammed the slider in the spider's face.

Carefully loosened her obi Lin concealed Umi's knife in the folds of the fabric before dumping the soap and the washcloth onto the tiles. She plunked herself onto the edge of the stool before dipping a bucket of water out of the big tub. Into this Lin inverted her head, soaking her hair thoroughly before dumped the contents over her shoulders. She gasped as the boiling hot water crawled across her scalp, running through the long mess of her hair as it poured across her naked body.

Seizing the soap she fiercely lathered her skin and hair before reaching for the cloth. Scrubbing savagely, she scoured her skin until the cloth had turned red with dried blood. Dumping bucket after bucket of water over her head more red ran in rivulets across the beige tiles, swirling down the drain recessed in the floor. Finally clean, Lin retreated to the tub. Tucking her lanky legs, she just fit. But the hot water barely came to her waist. She had used up the rest. Pulling a surly moue she wished it higher, wanting it lapping under her chin.

As if hearing her thought Fumiko entered.

The spider carried in a heavy bucket of steaming water to replenish the tub.

"Get out!" Lin thundered, seriously considering throwing the soap.

The spider ignored her, coming in anyway to pour the boiling water into the tub.

Lin shrank and gasped as the hot water surged and sloshed up under her chin.

Wiping her forehead, the spider bowed.

"I have been asked to serve you on this journey."

Lin spit a sarcastic laugh right in her face.

"Do you really think Shurui will let me live long to need a servant?"

Fumiko went absolutely pale. One of her hands lifted to cover her pretty mouth as strange fleeting shadow of sorrow soaked her face through. Baffled, Lin studied her intensely trying to make sense of it. Seeing her scrutiny Fumiko quickly fled back into the sitting room. Glad she was finally gone Lin hunkered down into the water trying to enjoy it. But what she'd seen gnawed at her with unrelenting persistence.

Perhaps there was another opportunity here?

Doing her best to wring out the water in her hair with her only hand, Lin struggled into the white yukata and used her teeth to tie a rude knot. Her skin prickled uncomfortably as the spider silk material eerily glided against her scars. The empty sleeve drooped as it slid off the point of her shoulder where they should have been an arm. Arguing with the fabric, tugging it back and forth, Lin hooked the sliding door to the sitting room open with her toe and glared through at Fumiko. The spider didn't look up as she produced a vial of hair oil and an expensive looking boxwood comb, offering them with forced cheer.

"May I brush your hair?"

Lin's bristly response was automatic.

"No!"

Stymied, Fumiko set these aside, turning instead to gesture toward a kimono hanging on a clothing rail. Lin stared in horror at the hideous _yellow_ thing even as the spider ran her hands over the hem in obvious excitement.

"Isn't it lovely? May I help you dress?"

 _"No!"_

Crestfallen, Fumiko stared at the ground in a loss.

"You must dress."

Lin glared viciously at the kimono, wanting to tear it to shreds.

Instead she paced the edge of the room.

"I said no."

Restlessly flustering her many hands, the spider took a seat at the low table and poured her a cup of tea. To this she gestured pleadingly, speaking beneath her breath as if afraid someone might be listening.

"I am only trying to be kind. You and I must grow accustomed to each other else I fear you will not require my service for very long."

Lin fell to stillness as the spider lift her bloody eyes.

This time Fumiko returned her gaze unflinching.

Lin gritted her teeth as she absorbed the veiled warning.

It left her wondering why the spider would even bother to offer her advice. Two spiders had tried to help her before.

Grimly Lin remembered their names.

Ritsuko was dead; beheaded by Shurui.

Lin had never seen Kuromi again after that.

But still; two had risked their lives to defy their mother.

Perhaps more would rise to do the same?

"Where are we going?"

Lin demanded out of the blue as she plopped onto the cushion. Rudely she downed her tea in one gulp, earning herself the same moue Fumiko had turned on Shimizu in the hall. Evasively dropping her eyes, the spider poured her more tea.

"How did you loose your arm?"

Lin's only hand paused on the way to claiming her cup.

Question for a question; answer for an answer; she hated this Godish game.

Apparently the spider thought she could put Lin off by asking something personal.

Without hesitation Lin pulled down her collar and exposed the stump of her arm.

Shocked by the sudden sight, the spider was forced to look.

Her pretty white face crumpled up in horror as she recoiled.

All six of her hands flew to cover her mouth.

"I was trying to save one of my sisters. A Forgotten had gotten a hold of her. I wouldn't let go so it pulled my arm off and took them both."

Carefully Lin answered choosing her words strategically.

Manipulation was not her strong point but this wasn't a lie.

The yuna and the frogmen had become her brothers and sisters.

Unfortunately she'd only realized that after most had been stolen.

"You survived an encounter with a _Forgotten_!?"

Lin watched carefully as Fumiko hushed under her breath in quiet dread.

Her face was still tight with fear that glittered in her blood red eyes.

Lin found herself frowning in bewilderment.

Strange that monsters should be afraid of monsters.

"I didn't just survive. I hunted the thing down _burned_ it to ash with human fire."

The spider was stunned, leaning close as she blinked up at her in awe.

"You killed it!?"

Lin nodded grimly.

"That's where these came from."

Lin pointed at her face, indicating the ugly red scars there before pulling her collar back up and covering the terrible knotted scars that capped the shoulder where her arm should have been. Fumiko was still staring at her empty sleeve, her pretty face distant and distressed.

"I did not think something so terrible could be real."

Fumiko flinched a Lin uttered a short dour laugh.

"Any God who harbors hate inside their heart holds the seed of their making. You spiders should know the truth of that after the madness I saw in the spider caverns."

Fumiko's eyes flashed with anger as her hands tightened into fists on the table. Her shadow crawled across the wall in a tangle of spindly limbs. The mushi scrambled in their jar overhead as if frightened by the taste of her antagonism. Lin sorely regretted leaving Umi's knife in the bathroom as she watched the façade of Fumiko's docile prettiness crack.

"Spare me your judgments, weasel woman! You know nothing of madness! I was born a slave in the brothels of Shitamachi! I have never seen a Forgotten but I have seen much worse! It is as you say: kami who harbor hate become demons. That city _is_ a demon! It has eaten more of the people I love than I care to count! I was glad to watch the Wheel of Yamanote crush that forsaken place as no doubt you were glad to watch your Forgotten fall to ash!"

The spider flashed her sharp teeth in throwing back her hot reply.

"Yes, the soldiers are frightening and gruesome. But how could they not become so after being hunted by the Dogs of Shitamachi? How could they not go feral after enduring such trials in hopes of saving what little goodness we have left?"

All over again she saw the baby in the nameless spider woman's arms.

Lin cringed from Fumiko's next words as they rang far too true.

"You reek of blood as do my sisters. You have done terrible things as they have done terrible things. That truth is written on your very skin. You may think us to be monsters but you are no different than us."

Grinding her teeth, Lin tried to argue but couldn't.

Hadn't she gone wild in the broken dark shell of Yubaba's Bath House?

Hadn't she transformed into a monster so she could hunt monsters?

All the same Lin threw back other truths, choking on blind fury.

As she did she slammed her fist onto the table top spilling her tea.

 _"I did not destroy your home or steal your children!"_

As the door to the room ripped open Fumiko crowded the frame holding the guard back. Lin lurched to the side stunned by the bath attendant's speed and strength.

"It is fine, Shimizu-san."

"But…!"

"I said it's fine!"

Without further explanation Fumiko slammed the slider in her sister's face. Scowling now the spider returned to her cushion, whispering beneath her breath, scolding Lin like she was stupid.

"Control your temper, weasel woman! This train is made of ears."

She gripped the edge of the table with her six hands as if wanting to throw it.

There were teeth in her severe grimace as she fidgeted on her cushion.

"I did not bring this upon you; yet still you hate me just because I am a spider."

Riled again, Lin hissed back between her clenched teeth.

" _Your_ mother is the one who started this!"

Again Fumiko's eyes flashed with restrained fury.

"No. Garuda began this war and Shurui took up the vendetta in his absence. And she is _not_ my mother! I do not pledge myself to her or her obsession with the God-not-of-this-land as do some of the spiders. All I know is she is taking us to a new beginning. After everything you have seen can you blame me for wanting to follow?"

Again Lin laughed in her face with low bitter sarcasm.

"Do you really believe she's taking you to a better place?"

Fumiko couldn't lie.

Her pretty face went grim with fortitude.

"No. But anywhere is better than Shitamachi. Besides; I believe in my sisters. Shurui didn't send them. They didn't have to come for us. All the same, they did. Wherever our journey ends we will make our way together."

Even though she knew their end destination Lin tossed the question between them feigning terrible irritation.

"Where are we going anyway!?"

Fumiko sighed and shrugged revealing she did not know.

"West. We are running low on coal. I have heard mention among the guards that we will have to stop shortly. There's a God village ahead that provides such services."

Again Lin studied her cautiously, trying to make sense of the spider's motives.

"Why tell me all of this? What are you hoping to gain?"

As if she couldn't sit still the spider produced a towel.

Industriously she mopped the spilled tea and straightened the table.

"I do not want you to look upon all spiders with hate. Our world has enough demons, weasel woman. Shall we both agree not make more?"

Lin blinked and blinked then snorted in spite of herself.

Grudgingly Lin forced herself accepted the wisdom of the spider's words.

There were indeed enough demons in this world.

One way or the other she hadn't expected it to be so easy to get the spider to talk.

What she'd learned was more than a start.

There was at least one dissenter in this nest of spiders.

But as it was with spiders, where there was one there was bound to be more.

"I won't wear that!"

Lin jerked her head in disgust at the yellow kimono. Standing, she went back into the bathroom and hid Umi's knife in the bucket beneath the washcloth. Then she bundled her blood stained indigo yukata and obi into a snarled ball before foisting them at Fumiko.

"Wash them. I won't wear anything else.

Reluctantly taking the bloody clothes the spider held them at arms length.

Then she stood only to bow.

"As you wish, weasel woman."

"My name is Lin," she returned angrily.

Plunking back down onto the cushion Lin disarranged the table spitefully.

"Bring me some food and maybe I'll let you brush my hair when you come back."

Fumiko frowned at the scattered tea implements.

A pair of her hands twitched as if wanting to reach out and straighten them.

But she restrained herself from cleaning.

"As you wish, Lin-san."

Lin growled in explosive agitation.

"Just _Lin_! Got that, you stupid spider!? Not lady or miss or missus! Gods above, I scrub floors for a living and I can't _stand_ the putting on of airs! Now get out of here and bring me something to eat!"

Again Fumiko bowed as her lips quirked.

"As you wish, Lin."

Lin half considered throwing her cushion at the spider as she turned.

As Fumiko exited Shimizu crowded the frame crossly brandishing her lances.

"What was all that, Fumi-chan!? Was she giving you trouble? Can I kill her?"

Lithely the spider stepped around the guard towing her with unburdened hands.

"No, you may not kill her, Shimizu-san."

With that the spider shut the door. Sitting back on her heels Lin drew her lips into a thin line. She stared at nothing she tried to decide whether or not she hated this spider. Hate, after all, was extremely easy. Forgiveness, however desperately it was needed in their world, was not.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHIHIRO**

She frowned at the palm trees.

Leaning her forehead against the cold glass of the driver's side window, Chihiro counted nine of them along the distant beach. They were tall and well established, no doubt planted back during the Hawaii craze that swept through the Izu peninsula in the early 90s. Her mom had showed her some ridiculous pictures of her and dad dressed up in hula outfits from their honeymoon. They had been able to afford the trip to the real thing. Judging from the shabby tiki-themed tables on the veranda of the beach front resort across the bay, the hotel hadn't updated in a while.

Glancing at the clock on the dashboard she found that only a minute had passed since last time she looked. It was 9:07 AM. They still had another twenty three minutes before the next boat arrived. The ferry from Toi to Shimizu cut two hours off the drive to her parent's house. It was worth the half hour wait. As long as they didn't get stuck in traffic they'd get into Mizunami around 3ish. Even as her thoughts darted ahead across the landscape without realizing it again her hand was back in the pocket of her coat.

Chihiro closed her fingers around the bath tile.

She worried the smooth lacquered surface with her thumb.

There'd been no good-byes.

Not yet.

They'd be back later that evening.

But already Chihiro wanted to slap the bit of wood on a door and go home.

Impatiently she slouched in her seat, tracing her eyes along the long arm of concrete that jutted out of the south point of bay. She scanned the other cars in the ferry waiting area, finding lots of families with kids, probably waiting to get across to go see grandma for New Years diner. Most were taking pictures of the gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji made available thanks to the brisk wind. It had cleared the sky of clouds, sending choppy waves crashing up into foamy sprays against the sea walls ringing the harbor. Chihiro had no interest in getting out for the car since it was still freezing cold outside. A dusting of white capped the steep walls of the hill that poured down the bay.

Turning up the heater another notch, and trying to be blaze about it even though it was her car, Chihiro wandered her eyes to the motorcycle parked at the opposite end of the lot. The cat couldn't seem to sit still. Cinna'd stolen one of Chihiro's skirts. The red hem billowed above the torn knees of her faded black jeans. The wind was constantly disarranged the deep cowl of her massively huge black sweater. Cinna was gesturing wildly, pacing back and forth before climbing up on the sea wall, walking the edge like a tightrope only to jump down and rush over to hang on Haku's arm before whirling away making another grand gesture. Here Chihiro realized the cat wasn't wearing shoes.

Haku shivered violently.

Poor guy was obviously cold.

She shouldn't be grinning at him.

He looked so much like a chilly stork hunched against the wind while leaning on the edge of the sea wall, hands shoved deep into his pockets and jacket zipped to his nose. The short fringe of his inky blue-black hair blew about like a flag in the gusts of wind that kicked against the side of her car. But even from here she could see the smile in his radiant green eyes. He nodded every so often, politely acknowledging whatever Cinna was yammering on about. Chihiro grinned until her cheeks hurt as she watched all this, because he was so very cute when he was being polite.

Chihiro blinked, suddenly struck as she watched them from afar. They looked so very normal, like a brother and sister from one of the other families wandering the sea side, especially as Cinna squeezed herself under his arm. It was so weird to see them like this; wearing human clothes and hanging out in the middle of a parking lot. But then again, all of this felt weird. It had taken her a minute to remember how to shift gears. Chihiro patted her purse as she hauled it into her lap, absently rifling her hand around in the contents just to remember what it felt like. Closing her hand around the cell phone she'd all but forgotten, she shook it to make the bell on the susuwatari charm ring and jingle. Taking out the lip gloss she applied another coat just to feel the slippery peach flavored substance on her lips. Breathing in the smell of the car's leather interior, Chihiro sighed.

When did normal become so strange?

The one human thing she didn't miss was waiting.

She could let that one go any time.

Scanning the horizon for the ferry she found nothing but water. Growing bored, Chihiro was back to watching Haku and Cinna. She hadn't realized how close they were until the cat just turned up and climbed onto the back of Haku's motorcycle as if it had been long since decided that she was going with him. Outside Haku laughed at something Cinna said; face breaking into a wide grin. As his white teeth flashing in the bright sun he caught her in the bow of his arms, anchoring her beside as she tried to dart off. Chihiro pulled a moue. If it had been anyone else beside the cat she might be jealous. At first annoyed by being trapped, the cat wiggled and resisted before turning and frowning up at Haku he shivered again from head to toe. Like a magician pulling a silk scarf chain from her sleeve, Cinna produced a long red muffler before hauling Haku down by his coat so she could loop it round and round his neck. The genuine concern in the cat's face made a prick of cold squeeze inside Chihiro's chest.

Silently she wished she could invite Haku over to get warm in the car.

Unfortunately she couldn't.

Not as long as Suzume was sitting next to her.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. He was dressed in the guise of an old man: black haori, gray kimono, and black and gold striped hakama. He'd even done his face in lines of age with salt and pepper hair. At the moment the fox was glaring at the ocean with a thoroughly sour grimace. His lips were pressed together into a thin dour line. He returned to studying the ferry brochure she'd picked up for him at the fare office before growling in exasperation.

"Explain to me again, child, why it is we cannot go around!"

It was obvious he was not pleased by the idea of taking a boat across Suruga Bay. Neither was Chihiro; 60 minutes on the open water was not at all interesting.

But they didn't have much of a choice.

She tried not to see again what she'd glanced on the TV in the ferry office.

Great plumes of black smoke pouring up out of the Tokyo skyline.

Chihiro didn't want to think about Tokyo right now.

Already her throat pinched painfully as horror and sorrow surged in her chest.

Forcing her eyes back to the water she tried to find the ferry on the horizon.

"It's going to save us a lot of time. Besides, the highways are still messed up from all the traffic in and out of Tokyo due to the train cancellations. Mom's really hoping we can make it for diner."

Yuko sure got a New Year's surprise.

Chihiro called her mom when she was waiting in line to pay their fare. Yuko was extremely surprised to hear Chihiro's boyfriend would be joining them. She blustered and dithered on about what her father was going to say. Pulling the little girl ploy big time Chihiro cut in, pleading with her mom to convince Akio it was okay. In a way she told the truth. Haku didn't have parents to spend New Year's Day with. It wasn't a lie when she said she didn't want him to be alone. The sob story must've touched a chord with Yuko because she'd finally agreed.

Kou Yami: that's how Chihiro'd introduced him.

Haku didn't know it yet but he was really in for it this evening.

Chihiro blinked, glancing out the window at his ill-fitting clothes.

They were going to have to get him a nicer outfit somewhere.

First impressions went a long way with her parents.

How Michio had squeezed thru that rule Chihiro would never know.

Her heart sank like a stone into the queasy pit of her stomach.

Yuko was probably even more surprised to hear Michio wouldn't be joining them. In a way so was Chihiro. She hadn't seen Michio since what had happened in the bath wing. Chihiro hadn't even run into her when she'd gone to extricate some things from the mess that was Michio's room. If things had gone differently that night way back in December when all hell broke loose Chihiro had fully intended to move into Haku's tiny apartment. She'd shown up with her car packed to the roof with stuff from her house in Aoyama. As a result, she drove all the way back to Izu well provisioned for a move. In a way it was a lucky coincidence; hence the coffee pot and the rice cooker now hanging out on the counter in the kitchen; hence the suitcase and bag of toiletries sitting on the back seat.

Also on the back seat was the bottomless camphor wood box.

It looked completely out of place beside her luggage. After catching a flash of Lin inside her head Chihiro had hastily gone off to put away the mirror. The last thing she wanted to do was leave it lying around. When she'd come back to Mrs. Nikkou's room Suzume was gone. The box, however, remained. Into this Chihiro returned all of the weird stuff along with the knife, the mirror, and the jewel. These she smothered and bundled into a pillow case. After that she'd come downstairs only to find Keiichi in her kitchen. Unfortunately when Chihiro pressed the priest to take all the creepy stuff back to the shrine Keiichi refused. The young priest said that Hidé had given her the relics for a reason. Keiichi said that to give them back would've been extremely bad luck. He made it clear that for all intensive purposes the stuff was hers now.

Fat chance.

They'd forever belong to Sengen no matter what her son said said.

Chihiro heart went cold as she thought of Hidé. Unconsciously she looked out the window at the brilliant aquamarine ocean. She scanned the breakers half expecting to find him out there somewhere. But there was nothing on the rocks but spray and seaweed. All the same, she studied the waves not sure if she wanted to see him. An unnerving pressure wound tighter and tighter inside her chest until Suzume snorted as if annoyed, jerking her back to the present. Folding his pamphlet, the fox shifted in his seat.

"You think loudly, child. I can hear you blundering around inside your head."

Chihiro glared at him sideways only to find the fox fiddling the heat vents.

He looked extremely uncomfortable as he pulled on the seat belt strap.

All of a sudden she realized he was a trapped audience.

Without preamble she dumped a question on him knowing he couldn't run away.

"Will you tell me about the fujo, Suzume?"

The fox blinked and blinked and blinked some more, looking around the car only to realize that he couldn't just leave as he usually would to avoid answering her questions. His gold eyes flashed with anger as his lip curled to reveal his sharp teeth.

"I do not have to obey you, child!"

Chihiro's mouth quirked as she fought the urge to grin; because Suzume looked so indignant as an old man, even more indignant than when he was wearing his usual appearance. Absorbing his irritation, she clicked up the heater and shivered all the same.

"I'm not asking you to obey, Suzume," Chihiro amended patiently, "I'm asking as your friend. I'm hoping you might know something that'll help me understand all of this so that I don't act like a complete idiot next time I run into one of them."

The fox stared at her askance over the thin gold rims of his small round glasses as if not sure what to make of her request. He flustered his hands, looking around at the Audi's interior as if angry at the tight space. His control over his ruse began to slip as more and more white crept into his hair. Finally, he began all in a rush as if embarrassed.

"In all truth I know very little of fujo, child."

Chihiro frowned in confusion as his cheeks went red.

"Really?"

He growled irritably, tightly knotting his arms against his chest.

"Did I not just say my knowledge is meager!? The only fujo I have ever known are Reika, her mother, and her mother's mother!"

She blinked, a little stunned as that sank in.

"Oh… It's just you seem to know everything about everything…"

Suzume barked back at her, full on angry now.

"I have lived my entire life on the remotest part of this rock called Izu, child! What means would I have of meeting any others save the ones that kept my family?"

Chihiro jerked away in surprise, knocking her head against the window really hard. Cringing, she sucked in a breath as a bright explosion of pain bloomed in her eyes leaving her temple throbbed. She shrank again, crowding against the door with a squeak as Suzume reached over to slip his frozen hand along the side her head. His pale face was more than contrite as he swept the pain away, leaving her brow tingling and her heart worried as his eerie gold eyes soaked through with intense sorrow.

"My knowledge is meager because my mother, father, and sisters died along side Reika's family, child. The knowledge of generations past vanished in their passing. We suffered much in the wake of that loss."

Suddenly Chihiro understood why he was being such a jerk.

Without realizing it she'd stumbled onto an extremely sensitive topic.

Her insides singed with guilt as she stammered apologies.

"I'm sorry…!"

Suzume pressed a firm finger against her lips, frowning at her in exasperation until he was satisfied that she wasn't going to blurt more apologies.

"I inherited Reika as you inherited me: against my will. Though it took some time I came to love and serve he willingly. I do not hesitate to say she was an _infuriating_ child; unconventional by even human standards. Her gifts were intuitive and impulsive for she knew no other way."

Here he hesitated, gently running his hand across her cheek as he took it back.

As he did the fox studied her with sad eyes melting with candid affection.

"You remind me of her much, Chihiro. Perhaps that is why you anger me so."

Stunned by the warmth in his quiet words Chihiro was left in a lurch as the fox settled back into his seat. Sighing gustily he attempted to stretch. The car was much too small to accommodate him. Still, Suzume tried all the same. Hands pressed against the back window and feet flattened on the furthest floorboard, there was barely enough room for his laky form. Wilting in defeat, absently threw Suzume threw hand toward Tokyo.

"The human you met in Ueno Park was rare. Miko whom serve at shrines are echoes of an era past. Fujo are not attached to a shrine. They hearken back to a time before the lines between this world and the next were so solidly drawn. In that age the world belonged to the Gods. Everything was sacred. There was no need to build a shrine to mark a place of consecration or give the spirits a place to dwell."

Looking out the window Suzume studied the cars. In spite of his old man guise he looked extremely uncertain. He shied, visibly nervously as another car pulled up beside them. Oblivious to what he was, a family of humans piled out and slipped by. Suzume frowned after them dourly as he continued.

"Human ways and Kami ways do not find easy harmony. In times of old every village had an oracle that would mediate on the behalf of the community. The human child was almost always female. She would be ritually married to a God that made itself known to be willing. Her mouth would speak that God's words, her ears would listen, and her hands would serve. In exchange that God child was afforded great power so that the other humans would abide by her will for it was also the will of the kami. By her efforts balance was forged and preserved between the worlds."

Chihiro gritted her teeth and squirmed.

Ritually married!?

She couldn't imagine marrying Suzume!

Chihiro was exceedingly grateful that tradition had faded.

Again Suzume was gesturing at the parking lot.

"As you have seen, child, times have changed. Humans devour our world to make way for theirs. The Gods of this land are forgotten. Money is the only God left that humans worship. The kami who survive are harried into the thinnest margins that remain. Those unlucky enough to not even be granted this go mad. They feel their impending doom and fight back in the ugliest of ways poisoned and putrefied with hate and sorrow."

Ever so carefully Suzume hovered a hand over the place on her thigh where the Forgotten had burned her. As he did his voice went hoarse.

"You have seen the results of such suffering, child. You will bear the mark of that forsaken being forever."

Even though he didn't touch her Chihiro flinched as the scar tingled with eerie gnawing prickles. Suzume quickly changed the subject.

"My sisters were eager to collect any gossip about the world outside Izu for it was here they could never venture. Our mother was only too happy to quell them with foreboding tales of Yamato. Human regimes rose to power that saw fujo mysteries as a threat. From her lips we heard of God children persecuted by the very humans they once served as pettiness transformed awe to fear."

Chihiro couldn't help but remember what happened when she first came to Kumomi. The moment she bought Mrs. Nikkou's property some of the town people started treating her like she was cursed. Thugs smashed up her car and painted _witch_ on the hood. It wasn't until the article that her agent published about Onsen started bringing in tourists and therefore money that certain individuals stopped treating her like a leaper. Turning away from the past, she quickly returned to listening as what Suzume said next trapped and held her attention.

"Many fujo fell prey to the same desperation that transformed their Gods into monsters. They yielded, turning against the kami they once served. Some fujo imprison kami to use as familiars, stealing from them magic in order to preserve their power. Other sought to make themselves important by catering to the whims of their frightened human masters, banishing or confining all kami, not just those who had gone mad."

Chihiro found herself wringing the steering wheel.

Outrage surged in her heart as she remembered what Kazue said.

She talked about Suzume like he was an animal.

Something to be tamed and harnessed.

"This world belongs to all of us," Chihiro choked in a rush, not quite sure what she was saying, "I don't understand why we have to fight over it!"

"From your lips to O-Inari-sama's ears, child."

Again Suzume sighed. He sounded so very tired.

"God or human, it does not matter. I pray that those who dwell in the worlds come to share your equanimity. But that is why I chose you, child. You are my bridge."

Obviously done with talking, Suzume closed his eyes. Slouching into his chair he fought to find a comfortable position. But instead of being settled by what the fox had to say Chihiro's insides had gone cold. Half of her wanted to call him out for being so duplicitous. The fox talked about wanting the world to be fairer. But how could he say that and hold such a grudge again Haku in the same breath? Suddenly distracted, Chihiro blinked, searching for a small clicking sound.

Looking over she found the fox fiddling with a latch on the side of his seat.

It clicked loudly this time as he pulled it up without knowing what that did.

Suzume yipped loudly, going white in surprise as the seat dumped him backwards.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Ahead of them the Audi's tail light glowed red against the white.

Before they could reach the apex of the hill Chihiro turned off the main road. Haku followed, pulling to a stop as she parked her car beside the old hinoki tree.

Giving the car wide berth He cut the engine of the Honda.

Dry flakes filtered down from above, gathering in drifts on the hill's dry grass.

At once he was listening to the eerie quiet of the whispering snow.

At least it was quiet until Okesa hissed in his ear.

"Neh, neh!? Wot's she doin', kitten?"

The cat craned her neck, clambering up behind him to see down the road.

Quickly Haku braced his feet into the snow to keep the bike from overturning.

Politeness forced Haku offered the obvious between his chattering teeth.

"I do not know, Okesa."

He narrowed his eyes to peer at the car, holding his breath so as not to obscure the air. He could just barely make out Chihiro inside. She was speaking to the fox, gesturing as if to persuade. Haku drew on a sharp frown as Suzume's voice spiked.

" _Tch!_ Why's they arguin', neh?"

He gave a start of surprise as Okesa's soft cheek slid against his. She draped herself over his shoulders, hugging him close even though she had no warmth to offer him. All the same, he was grateful for the comfort of her presence. Haku found himself frowning as Chihiro's voice cut through Suzume's. Whatever the reason for their altercation, she held her own against the fox. All the same, Haku was thoroughly displeased to hear the God shout at her so. Gritting his teeth against anger, Haku resisted the urge to intervene. That, however, would be pure folly.

"As I said, Okesa, I do not know."

Haku shuddered and not with chill, throwing his eyes up over the hill.

His chest tightened with apprehension as his blood ran cold.

Strange to be here again.

Strange to have returned once more.

Haku barely recognized the hill that bore endless rows of human houses. Like the slope on which they perched, they were blanketed in white. So was the road. In spite of the old priest's omen the cobbles were asleep beneath a quilt of snow. Perhaps they would wake later to offer him their anger? Because the forest was gone; all that remained was the forlorn strip ahead of him. This escorted the old road around the curve of the rise beyond the old hinoki as if trying to hide the sight from the stones. If only the trees could be so kind to him as well. Though he had seen it before Haku was still alarmed. More houses sprouted like weeds on the apex of the rise. The electric lights of their eyes stared down at him suspiciously as if knowing he was an intruder of old; a revenant of the past that their concrete foundations had supplanted.

All at once he was exceedingly grateful for the red muffler Okesa had gifted him. Even though it was tightly wound round his face, tucked deep into the front of his heavy jacket, Haku's breathe plumed thick and white in front of his face. At least the gas tank was warm because the air was decidedly not. Lifting his eyes to the low clouds, Haku frowned at the dim bright that had enrobed the world. The sky was dark with the threat of more snow. Cold poured through the shallow valley, breathing down from the North.

This was not the first time he had made this journey.

Once before he and Okesa had followed precisely this road.

The Tomei Expressway was clear and the weather fair all the way from the ferry dock in Shimizu to Toyota; nothing but wide flat asphalt cutting across the expanses of field broken by towns and factories that lined the distant bright mirror of the ocean shore. All the while white capped mountains loomed in the distance brewing dark clouds overhead. They matched Haku's mood. These grew closer and closer until he could feel the weather change. Cold ached in his bones. As if the crisp wind of their passing had not been enough already Haku could taste the snow that had blown over Izu. They met one of the storm's siblings to the east of Nagoya when they turned onto the Chou Expressway, wending their way higher over the rolling hills covered in forest and bamboo as they followed the scatological path of a river through a deepening valley. Tired abandoned buildings dotted the side of the road, windows broken and electric signs dark. Okesa had explained to him that the human economy had broken two decades prior. These skeletons were a harsh reminder for humans of better times now gone; much like the old torii leaning against the hinoki was a sad memorial to a lush forest now lost.

Haku jerked his attention to Chihiro's car as the passenger door flew open.

He flinched as Suzume burst out into the snow, stalking away down the road.

Only as the fox disappeared into the white did Haku realize he held his breath.

The snow stirred and eddied in a wind of his making.

But letting it out in a gusty rush did nothing to ease the tight pinch in his chest.

Swallowing with difficulty, Haku found his mouth dry and his pulse quick. Cagily he studied the God's tracks, following them down the old road into the thicket only to stare at the place he disappeared. Haku was not afraid of the fox; far from it. Still, he gave Suzume a wide berth in order to avoid provoking the fox with his presence. Haku's jaw still ached from the blow the fox had dealt him. He had not expected such violence from the fox. The hate in the God's eyes burned him still. It was a terrible reminder of the debt of guilt he owed Suzume.

Ignoring the pain as he tightened his mouth in quiet perseverance, Haku reminded himself that wallowing in the familiar pool of remorse would not bring Hayashimi back. Allowing the fox to break his face would not summon her home either. Haku, however, had no intention of becoming the God's scapegoat. A great many wrong lay at the fox feet; chief among them the way he had treated Hayashimi while the old human woman was alive. Neither he nor the fox was unblemished by shame. However, what Haku feared most was what he might be forced to do should the God try to attack him again.

Haku did not want to injure the fox.

Chihiro loved the God openly.

To hurt Suzume would be to hurt Chihiro.

Haku wished that Suzume could see that.

That, however, was a wish made in vain.

Haku had learned a great deal about Suzume since they had come to dwell beneath he same roof. Being of fire and earth, the fox was inherently selfish; obdurate in his beliefs; quick to anger and even quicker to overreact. They were natural opposites. Being of wind and water, Haku's first reaction was to yield and redirect. It was unlikely that Suzume would exchange anger for reason and so Haku did not even try to speak to the God. He permitted Suzume to accompany Chihiro knowing the fox would not come any other way. Unfortunately, that left Haku utterly in the dark.

Abruptly their journey began.

It fell upon him so quickly Haku had no time to prepare.

Hastily Chihiro announced their departure to the young priest as she spilled down into the kitchen from the second story. Just as hastily he had been forced to follow in her wake with little direction. Instinctually he responded with resiliency, making good use of the reservoir of patience he had cultivated as a result of the trials he experience over the past year. In the midst of all of the chaos Haku realized Michio had not accompanied Chihiro. As baffled as Haku was, he had no time to appeal for explanation even as he sought her out in the ferry office on the shore of Toi. Covering her mouth in horror, she had been completely engrossed by the buzzing flickering pictures on the monitors hanging from ceiling inside building's waiting room. Chihiro had startled in surprise as she turned only to walk right into him. Then she grabbed his hand and towed him out the back door. Away they skulked like thieves, hidden from the fox's eyes in the lee of the structure. Even here when there could have been more she offered him only the thin slip of human paper that was proof of payment for he and Okesa's ferry passage.

Wordlessly she begged him to be patient with her pale troubled eyes.

He knew intuitively something had happened with Michio.

Though his insides boiled in turmoil what could he to but oblige?

He let her return to the fox without asking a single question.

Again he obliged for the fox's sake.

Carefully extricating himself from the motorcycle, Haku let the cat slide forward to take his place in the driver's seat. Her dainty feet barely reached the ground.

"Will you look after Suzume, Okesa?"

Flattening he velvet ears, she pulled a sour face while staring off into the snow.

" _Tch!_ Why's aye always gotta look after grumpy-puss!"

The cat complained loudly but did not refuse.

Haku bowed to her in gratitude.

"Thank you, Okesa."

She glared at him sideways before lashing her tail and tossing up her nose. With bare feet she kicked the vehicle to life, expertly gunning the engine. The back wheel fishtailed as she shot down the road spraying him with snow. As the cat shot by the driver's side door popped open. A bell dinged from the interior persistently as Chihiro climbed out weary. I was odd to see her dressed once more in human clothing. He much preferred her in Onsen's indigo yukata and happi. Her breath billowed from her lips as she shivered violently, staring away down the road after the cat and fox. Already he was walking toward her; the snow hardly creaked beneath his light brisk steps.

Chihiro startled as his wind gusted by, throwing up a hand to hold her hat her. She wheeled round as if stunned to find him standing there. He came up short as again he found her lovely face tight with lines of worry that aged her. Wisps of silver hair escaped from under her disarranged hat. Absently she plucked at the flower at its brim as if wanting to pull it off.

"He's not happy about it but he's gonna wait in the woods until later."

She gestured after the fox as if that explained everything. Turning to face the hill she stared up at the house with a grim expression. Chihiro was back to pulling at the flower. He rescued the fabric blossom by claiming her hand. Wilting as if ashamed, she glanced up at him evasively as he laced his fingers through herself.

"Sorry I didn't ask," she began halting, "But I kinda invited you to diner."

Haku blinked and blinked and blinked some more as he stared at her in open-mouthed surprise. A startled wind erupted beneath his feet, unsteadying him as it swirled the snow and dislodged her hat, sending it tumbled across the roof of the car. He learned they would return to Mizunami he had anticipated spending a frigid afternoon hiding in the woods until he could steal through Chihiro's bedroom window as he had before. He had received predictions of oni and angry haunted cobble stones, not an evening spent with Chihiro's parents!

To say that he did not care for Chihiro's parents was to put it lightly. His recollections of Yuko and Akio were laced with nothing but anger and dismay. Haku had never met a blinder pair of humans. Akio was an audacious overconfident male whose insatiable appetite reminded Haku of the pig he had once been cursed into being. Yuko was so possessed with appearances that the female failed to see the truth in herself or others as she strove to personify some peculiar human standard Haku could not begin to understand. They spoke to Chihiro as if she was a piece of property to be managed rather than a child to be nurtured. How such disinterested humans had reared Chihiro he would never know. Haku found himself doubting he could spend an evening in their company.

Some of this must have shown on his face.

All at once Chihiro was clutching his hand tightly.

She appealed to him as if expecting argument.

Anxiously explaining yet making little sense.

"Please don't be mad! I just didn't want you to have to hide like Cinna and Suzume. It's really cold out here and I really, _really_ want you to meet my parents. Like for real, you know? Like real people."

Struggling to find his voice Haku answered with quick diplomacy.

"I am only surprised, Chihiro. I am honored you wish me to meet your parents."

It was not entirely a lie.

Regardless of what he thought of the humans they remained Chihiro's parents.

He owed them courtesy if not respect.

Here, however, embarrassment pinked Haku's cheeks.

"Unfortunately I find myself under prepared for such an occasion."

He fidgeted with the sleeves of his jacket. They were far too short.

A frown furrowed Chihiro's brow as she looked him up and down.

Her attention only served to intensify the heat in his face.

"S-sorry… I knew we should've stopped in Nagoya before we headed in. "

Immediately she began chewing her nails. Gently Haku took her hand from her mouth. Glancing down the hill at a billboard on the main highway below he studied the crisp black suit of the young male pictured there. Ignoring the beverage the human offered for consideration, Haku studied the subtle stripes of the charcoal gray shirt that peeked at the collar and cuffs of the tailored jacket. The outfit was completed by a rich satin brown tie and slightly pointed polished black shoes. It was the kind of garment in which Shouta once tried to dress him.

"Would an appearance such as that suffice?"

Haku gestured to the board.

Chihiro blinked in confusion as she considered the image.

"S-sure… But nothing's going to be open in Mizunami because it's New Year's Day. The mall will be closed…"

She trailed off as Haku produced his tatter cloak from his pocket. Unfurling the garment he whirled it across his shoulders. Magic surged across his skin, sinking through the clothes Amano had gifted him like the biting wind. They transformed in response to his will; becoming what he saw and more. He coaxed his cloak into the guise of the overcoats he had seen well dressed human males wearing in Tokyo. Straightening against his collar the scarf Okesa had gifted him, Haku moved on to adjust the tie at his neck as he found it too tight. The shoes were equally uncomfortable. He shivered in spite of his ruse. Though they appeared otherwise, beneath the surface of his magic the garments remained as they were.

"Have I done well? Should I change anything?"

Holding out his arms Haku turned in a circle, appealing for Chihiro's judgment. As she remained silent he looked toward her only to realize her mouth was hanging open. Her wide eyes were round with amazement. Again they skated up and down, taking him once more. Haku did not expect the melancholy that suddenly flooded her face. Stunned and at once worried, more cold flooded through his chest as tears glimmered in her eyes. Trying to hide them she dropped her face. At once he closed the distance between them. She cringed from the gloves on his hands, resisting as he lifted her chin, fretfully smoothing her wild windy hair.

"What is it, Chihiro?" He appealed in quiet desperation, "Have I done something wrong? I do not understand why you are sad?"

She shook her head vigorously, making the pale tail of her hair whip from side to side as she drew her mouth into a grim line. Finally she met his gaze, tightening her hands on the lapels of his overcoat as if she wanted him to take it off. Words erupted from her lips in a hurried upset rush as finally she spoke her mind.

"If I had my way I wouldn't've changed anything at all!"

At once understanding stilled the turbulent waters of Haku's heart. For the first in some time Haku was not troubled by the mendacity of his appearance. Odd, that he should not be bothered by the lie. He had changed much in these short months. Covering her hands with his, Haku tried to offer her consolation.

"We all must make concessions, dear one. Some truths are impossible."

She glanced up at him as if wanting to argue.

But instead she nodded grudgingly.

Here Haku found himself staring at her hair.

"Shall I help you, dear one?"

As her chin lifted she blinked.

"Huh?"

A smile immediately tugged at the corner's of his mouth. Even after all this time that same wide-eyed little girl lived inside Chihiro still. Melting affection surged in his heart she stared up at him blankly as she had ages ago. Indulging himself, Haku ran his hands over the crown of her head.

"Your hair, Chihiro. It is quite white."

Her face wiped with shock as he hands flew up into the starlight tendrils.

"Oh, crap! I totally forgot! Can you fix it?"

Haku ran a lock through his fingers.

"I will do my best. Only it will not be permanent. It will require concentration on my part. I apologize in advance if that attention slips."

Chihiro all but melted in gratitude as she nervously smoothed the front of his coat.

"T-thanks. Mom would be seriously pissed if I wore my hat inside the house."

As she shivered convulsively Haku ushered her back toward the car. Reclaiming her hat from the snow bank, he folded up into the passenger seat. He did not have to adjust the seat at all for he and Suzume were the same height. Haku pressed his lips together as he grimly noted the lingering smell of camphor and sandalwood that lurked in the car's interior once he shut his door. Only as Chihiro speak did he notice she had closed her door. Looking up at her worried frown Haku realized the chilly breeze gusting through the car was entirely of his making.

"Um… Do you think not be windy around mom and dad?"

Haku blinked and silenced the current of air before nodded carefully.

"As I said, I will do my best, dear one."


	17. Chapter 17

**CHIHIRO**

Dread lifted her foot from the acceleration peddle.

The Audi all but crawled along the freshly plowed road.

Already she could see her parent's blue house.

Grinding her teeth Chihiro realized it had been decorated for the holiday.

The electricity bill was going to be ridiculous.

Blinking bulbs festooned the bars of the fence until it was a glowing grid. Every light was on in the two story house even thought only two people were at home. Even though dusk was swiftly approaching the front yard of the Ogino house was illuminated bright as day. At either side of the front gate enormous ornate arrangement of pine and bamboo stood to attention. The snow had been shoveled from the driveway, the walk, and all the way up to the front step. Yuko must've really gotten after her dad to get him to clear even the sidewalk.

Slouching into her seat as she pulled into the driveway and parked, Chihiro gritted her teeth and wrung the steering wheel. She didn't turn off the engine right away, drawing out even taking the key from the ignition. Struggling to find ways to dawdle, she got into her purse for her lip gloss, feigning the act of primping herself in the mirror, anything to delay going into that house. Chihiro paused, frowning intensely at her hair. It was still silver, at least to her eyes. Haku assured her everyone else would see it brown.

"Do not look so grim, dear one," he amended gently, "Is it truly so dire?"

Chihiro glared at him pulling a sullen moue.

Then she blinked. Was he smirking? He was!

What the heck was this?

"Since when did you get a sense of humor?"

He frowned distantly, looking out the opposite window.

"I know not of what you speak, dear one."

That was more like it. But then Chihiro saw the corners of his mouth quirk. Blinking again, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously, studying his face even as he turned away, indifferently studying the other houses on the block. Craning her neck to see his face she realized his green eyes were sparkling merrily. Indignation surged inside her chest. He was _teasing_ her! Startled and thrown off balance by this new side of him, Chihiro opened her mouth to throw something lippy his direction only to shrink with a squeak as the long curtains in the front window parted for a moment only to swing shut.

"We have been seen," Haku pronounced ominously, making her want to swat him.

He exited the car first, coming around to open her door and offer his hand.

"Shall we go in?"

Chihiro glowered up at him but reluctantly took his hand.

He looked extremely sharp in that suit.

Charming bastard; how did he managed to pull off looking so calm?

She almost pinched his butt just to give him a turn.

But fearing her hair might go white as a result Chihiro restrained herself.

Following in his shadow, they went through the side gate. The front yard was manicured within an inch of its life in spite of all the snow. She wouldn't've been surprised if the hedges turned out to be made of plastic. Coming up to the front step into the tall modern style entryway, Chihiro glared at the tiny ceramic frogs capering along the wall. Her mom didn't like frogs. It was exactly the kitchy kind of stuff in home and garden magazines Yuko loved to waste money on just because it was popular.

One held up a chalk board sign that welcomed them.

Chihiro glared

"Calm, dear one." Haku counseled gently as he wiggled his fingers.

Chihiro realized she was squeezing his hand so hard it must've hurt. Heat flooded her face as she loosened her grip, muttering an apology. Staring in terror at the big immaculately white front door Chihiro's heart thrilled up into her throat. She lifted a shaking finger to press the glowing orange bar of light illuminating the door bell. Distantly a chime sounded a pleasant _ding-dong_ that set her knees quaking.

Almost instantly as if she had been perched beside the door laying in wait, Yuko whisked it open. A wall of warmth breathed out of the house thanks to the centralized heating system that was no doubt cranked up to full. Chihiro jolted as her mom managed to fill the massive archway with her presence. She was dressed in white slacks pressed so crisply they didn't even bend as she moved. Even though she was getting lines around her eyes and mouth, Yuko was still wearing on of her trademark pink sweaters. As if dyed to match, it was the exact shade of her glossy lipstick. Gold flashed ostentatiously at her ears and her neck. Like her pants Yuko's perfectly styled hair didn't so much as move. The hue was too intense not to be colored.

Holding her breath, Chihiro watched her mom's face waiting in terror.

This was the moment when everything would be decided.

First impressions were the beginning and the end with Yuko.

Ignoring Chihiro completely, her mom's gaze grazed by like a razor's edge.

Haku didn't so much as flinch as it swept him up and down.

Chihiro blinked as Yuko blinked.

Surprise widened her mom's eyes as she stared at Haku.

Into that silence Chihiro intervened.

"H-hi, mom," she breathed faintly, "This is Kou."

Chihiro motioned at Haku, freezing up awkwardly as he bowed to her mom with all the grace in his being. It was hard not to stare when he moved like this.

"It is an honor to be received by you, Mrs. Ogino."

He straightened only to reveal a smile so disarming her mom went pink in the cheeks. Yuko's lips rounded into an "oh" of surprise as she unconsciously lifted a hand toward her mouth. Her mom hung on the door for a couple seconds, still staring at Haku as if stunned. Chihiro blinked, finding herself similarly caught in his charm. Furtively, she glanced back and forth between them only to fight a small smile of satisfaction as Haku dazzled her mom. Judging from the look on Yuko's face she probably would've' handed him her checkbook and her purse if he asked for it.

Instantly all of Chihiro's worries evaporated.

She kicked herself mentally for worrying in the first place.

In many ways Haku was pretty much still a God.

He could handle her parents.

"I'm so glad you're finally here," Yuko exclaimed in saccharine cheer as she shivered violently, "It's so cold! Come in before you freeze."

The pink in the cheeks intensified as her mom ushered them into the entryway, shutting the door behind them with a halting bow pointedly directed at Haku. Chihiro blinked. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her mom bow. Yuko's pink slippers scooted loudly against the gleaming polished beige tiles of the entryway floor. Deftly she slipped out of her shoes and stepped up to perch on the lip of the dark burnished wood flooring only to blink rapidly, pausing as she realized that Haku was extremely tall. Again she forced a smile to hide her surprise, offering her hands.

"I'll take your coats."

As Chihiro shrugged out of her coat and handed it over to her mom, clumsily stepping out of her boots and into the pink Hello Kitty slippers positioned in the entryway. She'd had them since high school. Her mom kept putting them out for her. Haku followed suit, stepping into a pair of new blue slippers, give up his coat a little reluctantly.

"Thank you, Mrs. Ogino."

He was bowing again, making her mom laugh in delight. Leaving them to their pleasantries, Chihiro stepped up into the hall unconsciously following the familiar path of the wood floor. It bordered the entire length of the living room in a narrow tributary that spilled to the right of the entryway in a dark gleaming river that pooled in the dining room. Nosily peering around the corner at the western style table they rarely used, Chihiro found it was set for four looking like something straight out of a Martha Stewart magazine. Above it the massive front room lifted two stories into the exposed gables. An ugly modern chandelier made of big rectangles of glass hung over the recessed living room. It was carpeted in more beige to match the cream leather couch and the austere glass tables.

The house looked exactly the same.

It hadn't changed at all over the years.

As she stared at it Chihiro's inside swam with strange emotions.

She'd grown up here.

Why then did she feel like a stranger inside her own home?

"Turn that off, will you dear? Chihiro and Kou are here."

Chihiro jumped as her mom called over her shoulder, scooting by to hang their coats in the closet. Seated in the middle of the couch watching TV was her dad. Yuko must've demanded he dress up because his usual polo was missing. Instead he was wearing black slacks and a blue button up shirt. Akio didn't even look up. He was too engrossed in the terrible pictures. Her dad was leaning forward with elbows braced on his knees. Akio stood, gesturing to the images as finally he turned.

"Can you believe this? They're saying Asakusa sank _6_ meters not the 5 originally estimated. That's almost up to the second story of our house!"

As it flashed on screen Chihiro recognized the Tokyo skyline immediately. The picture hit her physically, stopping her dead in her tracks. He heart froze inside her chest as she stared at the plumes of black smoke. She jolted as her dad planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. She took a startled step back, looking up only to realize he was standing in front of her frowning.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure it's not as bad as the news is making it out to be," her dad began in with his usual overconfident optimism, "All the same, your mom and I were glad you were in Izu."

That was just like him.

Akio always assumed he knew better.

This time he didn't.

Staring up at her dad Chihiro realized there was a lot more gray in his hair, especially at his temples. He'd put on a little more weight too. All the same, she was surprised by how glad she was to see him. Her stomach gave an awkward flip as he snagged her by the shoulder, hugging her sideways with one of his meaty arms. Warmth radiated out of her dad's body. Breathing became difficult as the smell of his aftershave triggered more intense difficult emotions. Instantly she felt small; like she'd become a kid again. But then again her dad was so big he always made her feel tiny.

Chihiro couldn't do anything but follow as Akio spun her around and steered her back into the entryway. Haku and Yuko were chatting about something. Yuko tittered with laughter. Her hand was braced under her chin in a girlish posture Chihiro had never seen. Haku looked up as she and her dad paused in front them. His easy smile tightened ever so slightly as Akio planted his other hand on his hip and openly looked Haku over.

"Well," her dad grinned as he gave her another sideways squeeze, "You sure like them tall, don't you Chihiro?"

Chihiro's face blistered with heat as her dad finally released her.

Yuko laughed in order to cover her embarrassment, admonishing her husband.

"Be nice, dear."

Unruffled, Haku bowed to her dad with the same decorum he'd shown her mom.

"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Ogino."

Akio blinked, frowning as if not sure what to make of Haku. He returned a somewhat perfunctory bow before waving it off.

"I'm not one of those dour-faced Japanese dads that gives their daughter's suitors hell so don't worry about being so formal, Kou."

Passing him by Akio went into the dining room. Sitting at the head of the table her dad beckoned them over.

"Are you kids hungry because I'm starved. It's a day late but we're having New Year's soba. Then we'll head down the road to the shrine. Save some room for grilled mochi. The vendor's always put up a great spread."

Yuko intervened, never hesitating to argue.

"They've been driving all day, dear. Give them a chance to freshen up."

Akio waved her off, not really listening.

"Honey, will you bring that Yamazaki whiskey we got in Kyoto and a couple of glasses for me and Kou?"

Her dad beckoned again, this time specifically looking at Haku.

"Have a seat, son."

Yuko was frowning now.

"Really, dear!"

Akio appealed to her with a gregarious smirk.

"It's New Years Day, honey. You're the one who's been in a festive mood. What better time to celebrate new beginnings?"

Again Chihiro's face lit up with incandescent heat as her dad winked at her.

"Give me a hand in the kitchen, Chihiro."

It wasn't a request. The moment Yuko turned her back on her husband her face fixed into a frosty frown. As her mom scooted off for the kitchen Chihiro gritted her teeth and hesitated.

"Go help your mom," Akio instructed blithely, "It'll give Kou and I a chance to get to know each other."

Haku seemed similarly uncertain.

Flashing her worried jade eyes his brow tightened almost unperceivably.

Chihiro shrugged helplessly and nodded Haku toward the dining room.

He inclined his head ever so slightly before he turned away.

With a sinking feeling Chihiro made for the kitchen and followed in her mom's shadow. The moment she turned the corner Chihiro ran right into Yuko. Stunned, she went rigid as her mom physically towed her aside, peering around the corner of the doorway as if to make sure Haku and Akio were talking. Satisfied neither was listening Yuko took Chihiro's arm again and pulled her further into the kitchen.

The makings of New Years soba noodles patiently staged on the counter: scallions sliced so thin she could see the light through them, fat cubes of fish cake, and three huge brown eggs waiting to be dropped into the broth to cook at the last minute. Her stomach gave a petulant kick of hunger at the sight. But Chihiro was forced to pass the food by as her mom produced the whiskey bottle Akio requested, hugging it as her face flushed with excitement. She didn't know what to expect given the state Yuko had been in when she called the Onsen. Chihiro nearly wilted in relief as she discovered that her mother had reverted to usual assertive self.

But her relief was short lived.

Talking to her mom was always difficult.

Yuko revived that fact as she spoke quickly in a low voice.

"And I used to think Karou was handsome!"

Chihiro flinched at the mention of her ex's name as her insides stung with all the terrible things his name conjured. Oblivious, her mom began listing things off about Haku like they were available options on a new car she was considering buying.

"Kou's so tall and so trim. Is he an athlete?"

Chihiro was hard pressed to do anything but tell the truth.

"He, uh, studies dance."

Yuko actually seemed impressed by that.

"So he's an artist?" She nodded her head in approval, "What kind of dance?"

Encouraged and overwhelmed, Chihiro offered more.

"All kinds, but he specializes in classical dance."

Chihiro accepted the whiskey bottle, loitering while her mom paused in the middle of taking two glasses from a cabinet, nodding again in consideration.

"It makes sense. He moves just like a Noh actor. And those eyes! Green! I've never met a Japanese with green eyes. Is he part British? Or American maybe?"

Chihiro scooted out of the way as Yuko bent to get a tray from under the counter.

"N-no… Not that I know of."

Again Chihiro sidestepped as her mom chased her out of the way to get ice from the massive chrome refrigerator.

"But you said he doesn't have family. So there's no way to know for sure is there? He must've learned Japanese as a second language. That would explain why he speaks so formally."

Chihiro opened her mouth but realized there was nothing she could say to dispel her mother's fabrications. She startled as her mother pushed the tray into her hands, pouring whiskey into the glasses while resuming her interrogation.

"Where did you meet him?"

"He used to work at _Le Pichet_. That French restaurant in Ueno Park. You know, the one that Lydia likes so much? We took you there once."

Here her mom's face fell.

She paused in mid pour, arching a brow as she looked up.

" _Used_ to work?"

Again Chihiro scrambled as she dropped her gaze to the tray. Gritting her teeth she was forced to blurt the truth no matter how much it hurt.

"The restaurant was destroyed in the earthquake."

"So he's unemployed."

Chihiro's attention shot back to her mother as she pronounced the word like it was a disease. Yuko's mouth had drawn into a moue as some of the sparkle left her eyes. Where once she was singing Haku's praises all of a sudden he'd become second hand goods. Anger surged in Chihiro's throat as her mother passed over several more sensitive responses. Anyone else would've commented on how sad it was that the restaurant was ruined. Not Yuko. Sometimes she was so practical it made Chihiro sick.

"Actually he does have a job," Chihiro contradicted primly, "I hired him and most of the other kitchen staff to work at the Onsen in Izu."

Her mom laughed in her face as she put the glasses on the tray.

"French cooking at a Ryokan? You're such a silly girl, Chihiro!"

Stunned and scalded by her mother's harsh retort Chihiro was unprepared for the sudden weight of the whiskey glasses. Dropping her gaze to the glasses she gasped and scrambled to level the tray as it tipped. Yuko caught the cup before they could slide off. The whiskey sloshed. Some spilled, falling onto the toe of her slippers, soaking into the pale fabric. Frowning sharply at the brown blot, Yuko's eyes flashed with anger as she scolded her like a child.

"Be careful, Chihiro! You almost dropped them!"

As if she didn't trust her to carry it anymore Yuko took back the tray. Putting it on the counter, she wiped it down along with the whiskey glasses, scolding her still.

"Your father and I will never understand why you decided to buy that run down old place. It's in the middle of nowhere. You can't even get there by train."

The humiliation charring her cheeks intensified until her insides went red hot with fury. But before she could shout in her mom's face tingly magic skittered the length of her spine. Chihiro shuddered as the coals in her stomach stoked in response to her emotional turbulence. Thankfully surprise threw a bucket of cold water on her wrath. Internally she crushed her temper, trampling the flames until they were ash, holding her breath half afraid she might breathe smoke. All the while she was forced to listen to her mother as Yuko continued to dress her down like she was stupid.

"I know you have all that money from your book sales, but is this a good idea?"

Cool and quiet, she lifted her chin and stared her mother right in the face.

"Did you see the article that got published about Onsen? We're booked solid through summer. Already we're making a profit."

Yuko stared back at her just as cool, putting down the glasses to crossing her arms.

"I'm not talking about profits. I'm talking about you hiring your boyfriend. You know what they say about mixing business and pleasure."

Chihiro blinked rapidly only to utter a short humorless laugh.

The sound thoroughly unsettled Yuko.

"I can't even begin to explain how serious we are, mom."

At once her mom was angry and red in the face.

She all but hissed under her breath.

"You and Karou were serious. From what I head you were serious about Hidé."

His name hit Chihiro like a slap to the face. Gritting her teeth and cringing Chihiro threw up a hand to silence anything else her mother might say. The lights overhead flickered as if in response to her barely restrained fury. Yuko shrank from them with a gasp of surprise. The sight of the fear in her mother's face chilled Chihiro's anger. Calm again, Chihiro gently told her mother off.

"No offense, mom, but you don't get to give me relationship advice anymore."

Yuko stared at her askance, going pale as she leaned back against the counter. Her hand shook as she nervously smoothed her perfect hair. Looking away she swallowed as her dark eyes glimmered with tears.

"Do you know I'm doing exactly what I told myself I wasn't going to do? I'm not trying to start a fight, sweet pea."

Chihiro's insides lurched at the name. It was a visceral response that immediately inspired her to offer comfort. Yuko, however, was not much for hugs. But even as Chihiro reached for her mom she shrank when Yuko rounded on her with a disturbed expression full of machinations.

"I don't understand you. I never have and that scares me. You're such a _strange_ girl! To make matters worse you've got money and you're a published author. The best men will find that intimidating. The worst will try to take advantage of you. I'm just so worried you're going to end up alone and unhappy. I'm just trying to keep you from making bad decisions."

Chihiro dropped her eyes, staring at the stain on Yuka's slipper suddenly all this became completely absurd. Tomorrow Chihiro was going to disappear into another world. She didn't have time to listen to her mom lecture her about how not to get taken advantage of by men. All the same she was listening and getting all huffy back at her somehow thinking that any of this mattered. Just as oblivious Yuko was scolding her for acting like an adult and making her own choices. Suddenly it became painfully obvious her mom was doing this because still thought Chihiro was a little girl. Unfortunately, Yuko had no idea the little girl she was trying to protect was gone.

She would never come back.

Cold understanding flooded her through making the floor seem to tilt. Only now did Chihiro realize that she'd come home hoping to settle some things with her mom and dad. But suddenly she found herself endlessly sad because there wasn't time to settle anything. There never would be. Finally she forced herself to admit that in a way she was here to say good bye, not because she thought she wasn't coming back, but because she was already gone. Staring at the Hello Kitty slippers she'd worn in high school Chihiro realized she felt like a stranger in her own house because she didn't exist.

The bell in her heart rang stolidly in that moment.

As it did Sen mourned Chihiro's passing.

With her went all the possibilities and promises of a normal life. This was the price of her choice and now she was forced to pay. She closed her eyes and swallowed that bitter, bitter truth. Feeling an all too familiar burning pinch in her throat she nodded. It took her a second to find her voice. Even then it was barely more than a whisper.

"It's okay, mom. I think I understand. I hope some day you'll understand too."

It was the best she could manage.

Hastily she picked up the tray.

"I'll take this out so you can start on diner, okay?"

Blinking rapidly to clear her vision she fled back out into the living room before Yuko could say anything else, bringing the glasses over to the dining room table. Akio was laughing out loud, his face bright with delight as he leaned toward Kohaku chummily. He turned to look at her as she approached, seeing right through the thin veneer of her calm. His brow tightened as he appealed to her in wordless concern. She shook her head furtively, asking him to wait with her eyes as she served their drinks.

"Thanks, honey."

Akio patted her hand before calling loudly to the kitchen.

"You won't believe this, Yuko! Kou's from Mie! He grew up right around where Chihiro fell in that river way back when!"

* * *

 **HAKU**

"You kids have fun. Stay out as late as you like."

Akio waved as Yuko towed on her husband's arm as they headed back down the snowy path toward the shrine's exit. The elder male's round face was red with the bite of the frozen air and the several glasses of whiskey he had consumed over the course of their meal. The short walk from their home to the shrine did little to sober him. His words drifted from his lips in a cloud of white beneath the cheery red and yellow lanterns hanging on strings along the food vendor stalls.

"Goodnight, Mr. Ogino."

Haku bowed, making the male chortle and wave off his formality. Yuko was shivering inside her voluminous pink coat, pulling on her husband again.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"You are too kind, Mrs. Ogino. I enjoy snow and look forward to the walk."

It was not entirely a lie. Haku did indeed enjoy snow.

The female, however, did not look entirely convinced.

"Alright then; take care of Chihiro. She gets cold easily."

Haku bowed to her this time and immediately she was blushing.

"I will, Mrs. Ogino."

Akio waved again as if sad to be leaving them, speaking to Chihiro now.

"Goodnight, honey."

Chihiro waved back, making her New Years arrow jingle loudly.

The smile she wore was thoroughly false.

It had haunted Haku all evening.

Worry forced him to work twice as hard to keep up the facade of their ruse as they courted her parents. In truth he found himself thoroughly surprised by the male and female. They seemed genuinely fascinated by him. For all his arrogance Akio was surprisingly good natured and laughed easily. Her mother, although brimming with unspoken judgments, seemed mesmerized by his every move. Yuko's childlike awe reminded him a great deal of Chihiro. There was much more depth to the humans than he first estimated. But then again, it was not the first time he had underestimated humans. Unfortunately their interest had not abated with time. As a result he and Chihiro were not left a single second to themselves. He had no way to divine the cause of the pain darkening her pale eyes. Glancing between her and the retreating humans, Haku strove to offer her solace thinking she was sad to part ways with her family.

"They love you very much, dear one. I see this in them clearly."

Still Chihiro stared after he parents as if seeing through them to something else. Ominous premonition buzzed in his veins even as finally she spoke.

"I know. That only makes this harder."

Haku frowned sharply, puzzling over her cryptic words he watched the Ogino's disappear into the crowd promenading along the stone path bisecting the wooded grounds. The small shrine was tucked against the steep rolling hills that bordered the distant edge of the housing development. It was unnervingly close to the old road, bustling with activity in spite of the dark and the bitter cold. Humans of all ages bundled in voluminous coats, long scarves, and plush mittens. They pressed together in small knots strolling up and down the straight path leading under. It was snowing ever so slightly and the low clouds reflected the light and sounds of the festivities.

But there were no Gods here.

The shrine was barren.

Still feeling the unnerving bite of his earlier prescience, Haku tightened his arm where it looped through Chihiro's. Without a word he led her away from the throng into the empty shadows beneath an ancient bare limbed cherry tree propped up with multiple braces. She followed without comment. Hidden in the dark he dropped the subterfuge he had so carefully woven, heaving a sigh as the weight of its burden lifted from his shoulders. Her hair flashed white in the gloom. Haku barely resisted the urge to touch it as he shrugged out of his tatter cloak, folding it to stow in his breast pocket. But as he opened his mouth to seek her confidence Chihiro turned her sober gaze toward the stone torii that stood at the entrance to the shrine complex.

"What we're looking for isn't here."

Haku's mouth hung open as she surprised him with her knowledge. Swallowing to cover his discomfort he turned his eyes to the dark rise of the hill. He did not need his compass to find the way this time. He knew these hills in a way no human could.

"Correct. It is in the mountains beyond."

Chihiro's pale eyes caught the lantern light as she followed his gaze. They flashed like mirrors in the dark, making him flinch. He shuddered as the unwanted memory of Sengen's mirror flitted through him. All at once premonition hummed in his quickening pulse as her voice turned unfamiliar and distant.

"All I can see is a rock. A huge mossy dark rock. There are chains on it."

Haku's brow furrowed deeper as she silently appealed to him for explanation. He hardly heard her words. He was too preoccupied with studying her face. Somehow he found her changed though she remained the same. It was terribly unsettling; so unsettling he felt the need to touch her. Collecting her face in his hands Haku found her face frozen beneath his palms as he stroked the soft skin with his thumbs.

"I find you strange, dear one. It frightens me."

Chihiro snorted, breaking the pall as she flashed him a sullen moue.

"Since when am I the _strange_ one?"

A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. He blinked as at once she was looking at his mouth. Warmth surged in his chest as she began to stare hungrily, dispelling the frozen apprehension in his heart. Spontaneously he yanked her into his arms, loosing a chuckle as his efforts were rewarded by her tiny darling squeak of surprise. Elation sang in his blood at the sound of her giggle, lifting her chin as she stood on the very tips of her toes. Gladly Haku bent to oblige the wordless demand that kindled in her eyes only to be thwarted as she looked away toward the putter of a distant motorcycle engine.

"Isn't that your motorcycle?"

It was indeed.

Haku glimpsed the familiar blue wall vehicle offered by a part in the crowds.

He blinked again as Okesa stood on the seat, peering over the wall of human bodies obviously searching for them. Her ruby eyes contracted to slits as across the distance their eyes met. All the hair on her body stood on end. In a blink Okesa was standing in front of them. Chihiro shied into him with a gasp as the cat all but threw a wooden box into the snow at their feet. Shaking her hands as if they burned from touching it, Okesa jumped from foot to foot in a pantomime of repulsion. Then cat hissed furiously, advancing on Chihiro with flattened ears and lashing her tail. She bristled from head to toe before jabbing one of her thick yellow claws at the box.

"Y'don' _never_ forget t'bring tha' wit' yeh, neh kiddo! _Never-ever!"_

Chihiro retreated, pressing back into him holding up her hands in placation.

"Okay! I got it, Cinna! S-sorry!"

Stunned, Haku stared askance at the wooden box, unconsciously retreated a step pulling Chihiro with him. The box vibrated with bizarre magic that chilled his blood.

"What is that _thing_!?" He breathed beneath his breath.

Again the cat growled; glaring at the box like it might bite. She wiggled her claws in an expansive disorderly gesture at the container.

"S'called ah gehōbako. S'full o' _wily_ fujo magic!"

Haku's insides crawled with confusion. He had never heard of such a thing.

"Where did it come from!?" He pressed in agitation.

Sinking over her heels Okesa bared yellow teeth at it.

"Used t'be Obasama's."

Here cat tossed her head at Chihiro, cagily glancing from the corners of her red eyes. As she did the cat's pupils dilated until they could have swallowed the night.

"Now t'box an' all t'trouble tha' comes wit' it belongs t'her."


	18. Chapter 18

**CHIHIRO**

Sen blinked as she found her hand in her pocket again.

Closing her hand around the tiny bit of wood she frowned in awe.

She thought Cinna was joking when the cat said to tell the box to get smaller.

But she wasn't joking.

Like some kinda magic trick the box obeyed her command.

It shrank and shrank until it fit in the palm of her hand.

Good thing too because there's no way she could lug it through the crowds.

Eager to get at the food and trinkets hawked by the raucous vendors, kids, teens, grandma, babies, moms, and dads bundled against the cold flocked to the stalls that transformed the flat yard of the shrine grounds into a winding labyrinth. It looked like the whole housing development had turned out. She recognized her parent's neighbors at an adjacent fried chicken booth. But the smell of smoke and delicious things was stunted by the bitter cold that set her breath billowing from her lips. Festive reds and yellows glowed in buzzing electric colors that stained the drifting snow in neon hues. The cold didn't seem to be deterring anyone because the narrow path left between the stands was so full of people the shrine visitors could barely shuffle along.

All except for them.

Without so much as slowing Kohaku smoothly threaded between the people.

She could barely keep up as he towed her along by the hand.

All of a sudden she felt ten-years-old again.

Like ghosts they blew by on an eerie wind unnoticed by the other humans.

Stumbling along behind him she was forced to quicken her pace to keep up. He'd grabbed her hand only to take off at break-neck speed the moment she'd put the gehōbako in her pocket. Baffled by his sudden need to hurry she held her questions as their brisk pace left her huffing and puffing. Kicking up a wind that fluttered the blue tarps stretched overhead, they sprinted out of the vendors area past the gabled rise of the main shrine complex. Someone inside was drumming and chanting loudly. But they quickly turned their back on the blinding bright spilling out into the yard, abruptly diverting, leaving behind the dazzled gold carnival of lights for the pitch black that filled the spaces between the spindly trees in the woods beyond.

Whereas she hadn't noticed it before, the bell of her good luck arrow jingled and jangled loudly in her ear as if bounced off her shoulder. The din of voices hanging like a cloud over the shrine grew thin, blocked in patched by the trees until it was replaced entirely by the persistent hush of running water. Snow creaked and crunched under her feet, growing deeper and deeper as they plunged into the woods on what seemed like a random path. Worried they might have lost her, she cast her gaze over her shoulder only to find Cinna loping along in her shadow unfazed by their speed. All too quickly she lost sight of the cat in the pressing dark that surged up over her head in a chilling wave. The impermeable black filled her gaze to the point where everything seemed to crawl with unnerving movement as her eyes struggled to make sense of the void. She was left grinding her teeth wishing they'd brought the lantern along with them.

Kohaku seemed to know where he was going.

In spite of the vision that'd seized her at the shrine Sen did not.

Exasperated, she opened her mouth to try and speak between her gasping breaths. Before she could the canopy of trees broke over her head. If only for a moment filtered light fell from above, reflecting off the low clouds as they darted across a road paved with ancient flagstones. Ice glistened on the stones, making them glitter brightly even in the pitch black. Abruptly her insides clambered about in shock as she recognized the road. Her heels jarred against the solid stone making her stumble. But Kohaku didn't so much as skip a beat. Ignoring the sight of the road he hauled her along against her will, heading back into the woods on the opposite side without so much as glancing. Again she threw her eyes over her shoulder only to grit her teeth. She could barely make out the looming shadow in the gloom of the woods. But she saw it all the same.

One of the mossy stone guardians loomed in the dark.

As if watching them, it hung back on the opposite bank.

Startled, she threw her gaze back over her shoulder only to have her heart sank like a stone as she lost sight of it. But she forgot it as they plunged down the steep embankment on the other side of the road. Startled and off balance she dropped her good luck arrow, letting loose a gasp that quickly turned to a shriek as she slipped on ice. Her stomach lurched up into her throat she skidded forward into the swallowing dark. All at once the wind left her lungs as something caught her around the middle, swinging her in a giddy whirl only to firmly plant her feet back on the ground. Automatically her arms locked around Kohaku's narrow waist as her legs trembled with the memory of the unstable ground.

"Neh, neh!" Cinna hushed, "Dropped yer arrow, kiddo."

Again Sen squeaked as something pulled at her coat. Startled again, she jerked to the side as her skin crawled all up and down her side at the contact. The bell on the good luck arrow rang loudly in the silence of the woods as the cat dropped it with a hiss. Not made for this terrain Sen's boots slipped in the snow, nearly dumping her down the steep slope of the icy hill. Kohaku had to catch her again. His hands gripped her waist, firmly anchoring her against him. Like some kinda magic mountain goat he didn't so much as budge even as she teetered. Once again clinging to the rough canvas of his jacket she wheezed and panted. Dropping her forehead against his chest as her face burned in embarrassment, she tried to catch her breath.

"Can we slow down? I can't see anything!"

His voice vibrated inside her chest as he spoke in quiet concern.

"Apologies, Chihiro."

Again her insides squeezed and shifted uncomfortably. That name didn't feel right anymore. It felt like a lie that for some reason left her at a loss. Just like calling him Haku didn't seem right anymore either. Baffled by the sensation Sen passed it by, struggling to catch her breath. All at once she was distracted as he took back a hand to dig in his pocket. She flinched as he tilted up her chin, making him hesitate.

"May I?"

As she nodded in confusion he carefully slipped something onto the bridge of her nose. She shivered as cold magic nibbled her face, pulsing across her face and making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Sen blinked and blinked and blinked some more as suddenly she could see! Touching the glasses, she gaped at Kohaku in wonder. His face resolved out of the dark clear as day, jade eyes gleaming with unnerving luminosity as he bowed his head almost unperceivably. But the hint of amusement sparkling in his gaze tempered the Godishness. His hot breath lifted from his lips in a curtain of white that drifted slowly into the canopy as he explained quietly.

"Though these will help you see, dear one, be forewarned. They will force you to see _everything_."

Confused, Sen began to understand what he meant as abruptly her gaze slide across the hill only to see the forest in crystal clarity. As if invisible hands were turning her head her attention was directed to Cinna as the cat fidgeted anxiously. She was crouched barefoot in the snow at Kohaku's heels cagily craning her neck and swiveling her ears as if hearing hundreds of sounds Sen couldn't. Again her head turned suddenly, neck jarring as her eyes swept down the slope following a slight depression in the snow. This turned out to be a trail. Her eyes bounced between the trees, straining into the distance to an uninspiring bridge so narrow and rickety she was instantly nervous. This traversed a deep, deep gorge that resolved out of the gloom in eerie looming shapes. Massive boulders heaved between the spindly pines as if swelling and continuing to grow. Polished smooth by the elements they littered the landscape, piling up out of the canyon precarious balanced on each other as if scattered and stacked by a behemoth creature. The quiet fizz of falling water filtered from below, cutting through the thick silence hanging like a physical presence over the snow blanketed woods.

Again he had her hand, pulling her forward before she could object. At least he slowed down, walking sure-footed as ever he held her hands, guiding her along the treacherously icy trail. The trees fell back leaving the low cloudy sky to press down from above. Thin wisps of snow drifted down into unhurried curls as the hissing rush of falling water intensified. It filled her ears, making her heart thrill as she let go of Kohaku's hands to approach the lip of the crevasse. A corroded railing cordoned the carapace. Bone-chilling wind poured up over the edge, blowing right through her as she retreated back a step from the dizzying drop into darkness that yawned below. But the she came up short, knocking into Kohaku only to find him frowning at a weather beaten sign. Following his attention Sen found it advertised the Demon Rocks Park trail. Half had broken off, most likely abandoned with the rest of whatever tourist attraction had been set up here way back when.

At once she was frowning sharply.

She'd lived in Minamizu for half of her life.

Never once had she heard of the Demon Rocks.

Glaring past the sign she found the bridge similarly forgotten. More a set of stairs than a bridge, the casement was built out of planks of wood and buttressed by thin aluminum struts. The icy planks looked spongy and pitted with age and moss as they slouched across the gorge. The whole thing leaned to the side at an unnerving angle as it led down to the opposite rim. Here a pile of massive boulders piled like a house. Two slanting slabs sloped away from each other like the gables of a shrine. An ancient stone torii stood watch in front of a part between the stones. Out of this spilled the all too human smell of wood smoke. Frowning deeper and deeper, Sen studied a plank of wood painted with an arrow that pointed across the chasm.

 _This way to cave shrine!_

So the sign announced in faded font reminiscent of calligraphy.

But a yellow and black rope stretched across the head bearing another plastic sign.

 _Danger! Do not cross! Bridge closed due to damage!_

Sen jumped at the sound of Kohaku's quiet voice.

"Do you see the water?

Sen followed his pointing finger as he directed her gaze into the distance.

"That is Matsuno dam."

On the horizon so far in the distance she could barely see it even with the help of the glasses her eyes ghosted up the man-made slope to the glittering mirror of the dark water held back beyond the wall of earth. He continued to offer information about this strange place as if it was common place.

"When the humans built this dam the plains between the bath house and clock tower town began to flood every night when the boundaries between the worlds become thin. Yubaba was exceedingly vexed as it forced her to buy ferries to shuttle customers."

Sen blinked and blinked some more as she stared at the reservoir seeing it in a new light. Skating her eyes to the side, she studied the swelling rise of trees realizing that they were a short walk away from the tunnel she and her parents stumbled through way back when. As she stared at the dark hill her exposed skin crackled with the premonition as the bell in her heart hummed. All of a sudden she was exceedingly aware of the nibble of magic seeping through every branch, leaf, and stone in this place. Sen breathed out a white cloud of apprehension, nervously pushing the glasses up her nose only to follow Kohaku's finger as he pointed into the chasm this time.

"Below is another tunnel where the world thin again. It is here the trains carrying coal once crossed. Perhaps you remember them, dear one?"

Overwhelmed by the haunted topography, Sen turned to stare at him instead.

Kohaku looked edgy as his luminous jade eyes stared into the distance.

She didn't like seeing him like that.

The fact that he was nervous made her even more nervous.

She whispered beneath her breath as if afraid something might be listening.

"Why are we here anyway?"

He shivered from head to toe and took a step away from the ledge.

"Before you joined me this morning in the kitchen the young priest shared with me a vision seen by his grandfather. Goshiro-san described a place all too familiar to me. It is here. Apparently there is knowledge to be gained from one who dwells within."

Cinna flattened her ears and lashed her tail. Drawing her lips into a grim dubious line she tossed her head at the gorge.

 _"_ Gives me _t'heebie jeebies_! Dunno if aye wanna know wot's it's got t'say."

Kohaku's eyes narrowed seriously as he studied the bridge.

All at once he was Godish again.

"Last I walked these stones I was enslaved by a mere tanuki. This place is steeped in deception. If there is advantage to be found in these hills I will gladly seek it."

Cinna growled beneath her breath, grinning yellow teeth as she glared up at him.

"Ain't yeh never heard t'sayin' curiosity killed t'cat!?"

He glanced at her frostily.

"You do not have to accompany us, Okesa."

She gave him a shove, momentarily knocking him off balance.

"Yeh's an _idiot_ if y'really think aye'd letcha go it alone!"

As he glanced down at the cat Kohaku's eyes softened. But Sen missed it as she blinked rapidly, still struggling with something he said earlier.

"What d'you mean you were _enslaved_?!"

Appealing for explanation she watched his face become an unreadable mask. He starred off into the distance refusing to meet her gaze. But his eyes couldn't lie. They filled with a baffling storm even as his quiet tenor went hoarse.

"That is a long story, dear one. There is not time for it now."

Sen's insides scrambled in panic as suddenly Cinna ducked under warning rope cordoning off the bridge. Instinctually she lunged after the cat. But she ghosted through Sen's fingers skulking off down the steps.

"Okesa!" Kohaku hissed beneath his breath, reaching after her as well.

The cat ignored them both. Like a lithe little shadow she dropped down the steps without making a sound. Halfway across Cinna paused only to peer over the railing. Her tail bristled out until every hair on her body was standing on end. Her glittering red eyes dilated as they swallowed the dizzying drop below. Shrinking back, the cat straightened as if summoning courage then jump in place three times with all her body weight! Sen cringed in horror as the bridge wobbled and gyrated, loosing a low shuddering creak! Already Kohaku has ripped his umbrella from his coat. It was halfway open over his head before Cinna grinned up at them vigorously motioning for them to follow. Skipping across the cat paused in front of the torii, crouching as she collected up behind one of its pillars, sniffing the air and peering at the opening between the stones.

Sen wilted in relief, clinging to the banister as Kohaku glared after the cat wringing the haft of his umbrella. But he kept it in one hand only to offer her the other as he lifted the rope with it point. Even as her legs turned heavy and rubbery Sen accepted his hand and followed grinding her teeth. But as she approached the lip of the first step memories of the staircase beside Yubaba's bath house flooded her head all in a rush. Remembering how one of the boards has snapped beneath her feet she panicked.

Yanking back her hand, her vision went white as something snapped inside her. Throwing her hands high she bolted. Sen had no recollection of crossing the bridge. All at once she was standing on the opposite side of the gorge on the wonderfully firm ground vigorously jumping in place as her skin crawled with horror. She shrank from the bridge hugging her chest as Kohaku crossed the last length of boards so calm she wanted to kick him! Again he was wearing that carefully guarded expression. All the same his eyes laughed at her openly. Pulling an irritable moue she glared back challenging. Lucky for him he didn't say a thing.

Here Kohaku's demeanor changed. Her insides went perfectly cold as his jade eyes went dangerous as they slide sideways to the opening in the rocks. He held stiller than still as he stared at it from the corners of his eyes. Premonition hummed in Sen's heart and chill went spidering up her spine as she tried to make sense of his response. Wearing a similar expression Cinna skulked over to crouch at his side. She sniffed the air again only to wiggle her claws and lash her tail.

"Can't smell nothin' but smoke, neh kitten!"

The cat muttered in her graveling voice.

By way of acknowledgement he bowed to her.

"Is that bad?" Sen cut in while feeling stupid.

The cat glanced back at her pulling a moue.

"Means aye don' know wot's down there, neh?

Kohaku pulled a small box from his pocket. Sen recognized the compass immediately. Opening the lid he glanced at the face only for a second before gesturing toward the cave.

"What we seek is this way. "

Here he smoothed a hand over the front of his jacket even though it wasn't wrinkled or disarranged. It was a thoroughly human motion. It made Sen notice the sweat beading on his upper lip in spite of the cold. He was obviously scared, struggling with something as he glanced at her only to quickly look away. Frowning sharply, Sen pursued it as she came to his side peering up at him.

"What's wrong?"

He flinched as she took his elbow, still evading her pointed stare. A muscle was jumping in the back of his jaw as he drew his lips into a grim line. He swallowed with difficulty before whispering hoarsely.

"I cannot ask you to remain here for I desperately wish you to accompany."

Sen blinked, trying not to be annoyed. He wasn't asking her to stay behind. Suzume might have ordered her to do just that. Gently she reminded him of the obvious.

"I'm not helpless, Kohaku."

He looked at her finally as she used his true name. The storm of conflict was back in his eerie jade eyes as he stared at her solemnly. Her insides squeezed as he swept a wild hair back from her eyes only to let his warm fingers linger.

"This I know, dear one. You have saved my life countless times. Knowing you stand beside me bring nameless strength. All the same, I fear for your well being because I fear I may not be strong enough to ward off whatever we encounter within."

They both jumped as the cat hissed at them.

 _"Oi!"_ Cinna interjected saucily, "Wot am aye, neh! Chopped liver? Aye's gonna look after both y'pokes!"

Before the cat could skulk by Kohaku caught her by the arm. As she bared her teeth as if to bite him he held up a hand of caution.

"Permit me to go first, dear Okesa? I fear just as much for your well being."

Sen blinked in surprise as he politely asked her permission. The cat seemed equally surprised both by his politeness and his obvious affection. All she could do was nod and agree. That left Sen and Cinna to vie for the next place in line. Sen jockeyed forward only to loose to the cat's speed. But she forgot her irritation even as the cat sashayed her hips in triumph. When they passed under the torii her insides seized and scrambled as something like a shadow fell over them. The bell hummed as it intensified to the point of dread as the mouth of the cavern loomed larger and larger. All at once her pulse was racing in her ears and cold sweat stood out on her face, making her hands clammy. Sen shoved the glasses back up her nose as they slid down her slick skin.

"Did you feel that!?" Sen hissed.

Crowding forward she grabbed a handful of the cat's sweater.

"No more talking, please," Kohaku instructed somberly.

He paused at the opening between the rocks, hair flying about in the wind pouring out of the mouth to the cave. It was cold it made Sen's teeth ache! She ground them together to keep them from chattering, hugging herself to try and hold onto any warmth. But as Kohaku entered the cave he knocked into something only to recoil clasping his forehead uttering a sharp exclamation.

 _"Itaii!"_

Sen and Cinna froze in surprise staring up at him.

At once his face was bright red as he glanced back at them in embarrassment.

Taking back his hand he revealed a raised knot on his brow.

Fidgeting and casting about, he awkwardly motioned toward the rocks.

"Take care. The ceiling is quite low."

Before she could ask if he was okay the cat dragged her forward by a handful of her coat. Inside the stone walls pressed close making her instantly claustrophobic. Dripping water froze in long white ribbons of ice along the walls, becoming icicles that hung in sharp stalactites from the ceiling. Kohaku creep along ducking lower than was necessary. The glasses directed her eyes to his side as his hand emerged from his pocket. He clutched something that looked like a pocket watch. Then he ducked through a part in the stones only to sink out of sight. Panic flared in her chest and she quickened her pace. Shoving by Cinna Sen clambered through the narrow part in the stones chasing after him. She was forced to come up short atop another aluminum staircase as the cat seized her around the middle pulling her back with strength she had no hope of escaping.

"Let me go!"

"Pip down, kiddo," The cat hissed in her ear, "Somethin's nae right!"

Sen froze in caution as the cat snuffled the air before flattening her ears. Shoving her back the cat crept forward. With glittering eyes Cinna scanned the cavern from their hidden vantage point. Sen followed her gaze trying to see what she saw. The smell of smoke intensified as the chamber opened into a massive cavern. Cracks and passages opened every which way between the gargantuan boulders, letting the gray cloud of smoke billowing up the adjacent soot stained wall filter through the distant ceiling. The wall turned out to be a colossal square rock. The thing was a big as her parent's house! It was the keystone holding up the rest of the boulders. All the rocks here were festooned in old rice ropes that marked sacred spaces. Their aged yellow paper streamers waved and rustled in a whispering symphony in the heat spilling up from the mother stone's feet.

It was there that Kohaku stood. He was cut in sharp relief against the firelight spilling across the sandy floor. Beyond him was an untended fire in a pit lined with stones. It reflected around the bowl of the cavern, filling the space with diffuse light. The glasses jerked her head to the side, showing her that someone had made a rude bed out of blankets in an alcove beside the fire. Again the lenses directed her eyes to the food containers were neatly stacked beside a backpack of some kind. Abruptly Sen shrank in terror as a voice like smoke echoed in the cavern coming from everywhere and nowhere.

 _"_ _Momotarō-san,_ _M_ _omotarō-san_ _!"_

Her heart thundered in her ears as she realized someone was singing.

 _"Those millet dumplings on your waist?_ _Won't you give me one?_ _"_

Sen recognized the song immediately. It was a kid's song sang in school.

But there was nothing childlike about it.

 _"I'll give you one, I'll give you one. I'm on a quest to conquer the oni."_

All at once her blood turned to ice and dread hummed in her heart.

The bell gave a peal of warning.

 _"If you come with me, I'll give you one."_

Abruptly the singing silenced leaving the fire to fizzle and crackle in its wake. The air in the cavern became ominously heavy as Kohaku fished something from his pocket. Bowing, he held up the fresh branch garlanded with folded paper. The emerald leaves gleamed like jewels in the firelight. His voice echoed in the cavern strong and clear even as his hands shook ever so slightly.

"Forgive my intrusion, O-kami-sama! I seek your wisdom!"

The wood smoke voice answered from everywhere, echoing through the cavern.

"I am no God, stranger."

Kohaku seemed thoroughly surprised by that. His confidence faltered, breaking into obvious confusion as he lowered the offering. Again the glasses directed Sen's eyes to the pocket watch in his hand as he moved his thumb to the button on its side. What good was a pocket watch anyway!? At once Sen fought Cinna's grip with renewed vigor.

"Listen, neh!" The cat persisted, "S'ah _human_! S'tryin' t'scare us off!"

From their vantage point they watched Kohaku return the branch to his coat before he turned in a circle scanning the cave. His jade eyes were incandescent in the firelight, brimming with curiosity.

"I was told to seek the council of the oracle here. This place belongs to the gods. If you are not kami then why do you dwell here?"

As it spoke next the voice became less and less imposing.

At once it was female, firm and full of authority.

"You're either dumb or brave. Most people run off when I use that trick."

The glasses threw Sen's eyes to the side wrenching them painfully as the lenses directed her attention to a side tunnel. Her footsteps echoed through all the nooks and crannies sounding like they were coming from everywhere at once. All in a rush Sen realized the woman was using the acoustics of the tunnels to make her voice all scary.

But the moment Sen saw her she knew the woman was a fujo. All the same, she was not at all what Sen expected. She was younger than Kazue but had obviously lived a hard life. At least Kazue looked _priestly_ in her red and white shrine outfit. This fujo was dressed in hiking gear like she was heading on a cross-country trek. Her orange waterproof jacket was completely out of context beside the remnants of the shrine. But like Kazue her hair was white as the wood smoke curling in the ceiling above, bound at the back of her head in a tight knot. Hard as stone her pale eyes flashed like steal. A perma-frown dug deep lines into her grim expression.

Kohaku saw her the same moment the fujo ducked out of the shadows.

Cagily he circled to her side.

Strange, the fujo couldn't see past the surface of what Kohaku was.

All at once she was scolding him like he was a stupid teenager.

"I don't know what kind of hazing thing you're going through. Even if your pals or whatever quack spiritual teacher sent you out here on a test of courage, you're an _idiot_ for coming! You'd better leave and never come back!"

As the fujo scoffed Kohaku riled visibly.

But he held onto his temper even as she continued to bitch him out.

"I'm surprised you didn't notice as you passed through but _bad_ things happened on the other side of the world here. Some of it escaped not too long ago."

At once Kohaku was looking towards the shadows gritting his teeth.

Ignoring the fujo he got caught up in worries about something else entirely.

Not that she blamed him.

Just the mention of Forgotten made her blood run cold!

"What about the Gaki? The night river should have held them back."

Sen cringed as the truth just ran out of him like water.

Oh, when was he going to learn when to lie or at least keep his mouth shut!?

Stunned, the fujo stared at him for several seconds.

"Nothing else crossed… I made a gate that's holding back the rest."

At once she took a step away from him, scowling as she studied him intently.

"You certainly know a lot for a kid. What did you want to ask me anyway?"

Pride flashed in his eyes like lightning, finally getting the better of him as he growled low in his chest. The sound reverberated in the cavern like a crack of thunder making Sen's heart skipped a beat. Immediately the glasses directed her eyes to Kohaku's shadow. With intensity that bordered on pain she was forced to study his silhouette as it poured backwards, spilling behind him in a long inky river. It writhed and churned, painting across the walls of the cavern in the massive curling coils of a dragon.

"Mind your words, fujo!" Kohaku instructed forbiddingly, "I am no child!"

Finally the fujo was seeing him for the first time and her pale eyes went wide with understanding. Recoiling from another step she feigned terror even as the glasses showed Sen that the fujo wasn't scared at all. If anything her face tightened with resolve as her eyes flashed with dangerous calm. Taken in by her ruse Kohaku gentled, raising a hand as if about to reassure her. Before Sen could shout a warning bells rang so suddenly even Kohaku didn't have time to react.

The sound hit him like a punched to the gut.

His feet left the ground like someone had ninja kicked him in the face.

He caught air, landing hard only to knock his head.

Sen fought to see him.

But even as a scream boiled on her lips the glasses wrenched her eyes aside.

They forced her to look on as something small flew from his hand.

Whatever it was shattered on the stones.

Then the bells hit Cinna as well.

The cat's screech of agony threw her back against the aluminum grating.

Sen had seen bells used on Gods before but never like this!

As the cat thrashed her claws ripped at Sen's face and clothes.

She scramble aside as again the bells peeled a terrifying screeching sound.

Rice ropes surged up over the aluminum landing.

They seized Cinna, coiling around her like snakes.

Sen lunged to keep hold of the cat pulling with all her might.

But the ropes were too strong.

Sen held on to the cat's arm until the ropes ripped Cinna from her grasp.

Momentum dragged Sen after the cat.

Pain exploded in bright sparklers inside her body.

It devoured her vision as she dumped down the steps.

Somehow she managed to catch the railing of the aluminum stairs.

Her arms wrenched in their sockets as she yanked to a stop.

But as she hung there stunned she caught a glimpse of the sandy grotto below.

Sen flinched, shuddering as her bones turned to jelly, because the fujo tossed her hand side to side making bronze bells glint like blades in the firelight. These threaded along on a thick looping wire affixed to the red lacquered handle. The five colored ribbons garlanding the hilt whizzed through the air. They cracked like whips as the fujo lashed them back and forth. Following the call of the bells more rice ropes erupted from the sandy floor anchoring Cinna to the ground. But even as the cat hissed and writhed the ropes held her. Tossing her hand high the bells disappeared from the fujo's palm only to be replaced by a bow and arrow. This the fujo drew with expert skill aiming the point right at Cinna's heart. The cat's eyes dilated black as she froze.

"Be patient, cat," the fujo murmured coldly, "You're next."

Wheeling the point around she turned it at Kohaku.

He was still lying stunned in the sand.

"Errant God!" The fujo intoned ominously, "You are unwelcome in this world! Go back and never return!"

All this happened so fast she couldn't keep up.

Sen didn't even have a second to think from the moment the bells first rang.

But the sight of the arrow pointed at him sent Sen vaulting upright.

A crashing wave of calm came flooding through her as her hand was in her pocket.

"Bow!" Sen commanded the box hiding there.

At once it obeyed, planting the supple wood shaft in her palm. This Sen drew free in a long smooth motion even as she surged down the stairs on fleet feet completely at odds with her earlier clumsiness.

"String!" She demanded.

It twanged into existence as she sighted on the fujo. Magic resisted and helixed with potential as she drew back her arm. Fire sparked from her pursed her lips as she blew a short controlled breath. The flaming bolt catapulted from her bow as she let the humming string go. Sailing through the air the arrow of fire it smashed into the stone at the fujo's back. Sen gritted her teeth as the arrow intentionally missed its mark. She could've killed her in that moment and the knowledge made Sen's insides crawl with horror. But even still, the flaming arrow was more than enough to distract the fujo.

The woman recoiled with a shriek as the fire exploded, spraying her with hungry snapping embers. But even as it surged around her in hungry crackling tongues the fujo mastered it. Making the fire her own the fujo crushed it beneath her feet before recoiling. Utterly confused the woman stared as if stunned by her appearance. As the fujo gaped Sen struggled to hold back the fire balanced on her lips. She swallowed the bright point of heat, all at once sweat was pouring down her body. Her lips went so dry they split and she could taste blood. But even as feral fire raged in her chest she held it in check.

"What _t'hell_ is your problem, lady!?"

Some of the fire escaped as she shouted. It smoldered behind her eyelids only to escape in licking tongues that climbed up from the corners of her eyes. As if jolted awake by the sound and the sight the fujo threw her hand to the side. The bells disappeared only to be replaced by her bow. This fujo aimed an arrow right at her. Sen's insides clambered around in terror as the woman drew the string to her chin in a move so smooth it left her backpedaling sharply.

"Are you God or human!?"

"H-human?" Sen stammered abruptly.

Bewildered, she found herself unsure. The woman's iron features went slack if only for a moment. Then her shrewd colorless eyes glimmered with an uncanny understanding that made Sen's skin crawl and shiver. It felt like the woman was looking right through her. Whatever she saw must've meant something because the tip of her arrow wheeled toward the ground. At once she was barking commands they way a supervisor yelled at underlings.

"I see you, sister. Name your mother and your mother's mother."

Sen blinked as the questions bounced off her head meaninglessly.

"Huh?"

The fujo's eyes flashed with irritation.

"Your _teacher_ , little girl! What is her name!?"

Harried by the stranger's harsh words Sen blurted the truth.

"S-she's dead."

The fujo nodded curtly as if that was to be expected.

"Do these Gods belong to you?"

Utterly confused, Sen answered uncertainly.

"N-no?"

The fujo got way serious as her eyes flicked at Kohaku.

Whatever she saw knocked all the color from her face.

"Do you know where that one came from? I've never seen anything like him! He's a God but he _feels_ human!"

Sen interjected herself between the fujo and Kohaku as she drew the arrow again.

" _Whoa_! You wanna tell me why _t'hell_ you're trying to _kill_ us!?"

Sen flinched as the fujo's attention wheeled back to her.

"I though you said these Gods don't belong to you!"

Again Sen had no idea what to say. At a loss she choked on the truth.

"They don't. They're my friends."

At once the air was crackling with tension as the fujo searched her up and down as if seeing her for the first time only to discover they were enemies. Along with it came the sighted point of her arrow.

"So you do keep Gods after all."

Gritting her teeth and grabbing her bow in both hands Sen held it out in front of her like she'd seen Kohaku do when he was trying to avoid a fight.

"Look! All we want is to ask you a couple of questions then we'll leave, okay?!

"No. It's not okay. There is no _we_ , little girl; only us and them."

Sen's mouth fell open in astonishment as the fujo explained herself.

"I do not keep Gods, little girl. I send them back; even the ones who haven't turned; even the ones kept by other fujo. It doesn't matter what you do; eventually this world will drive Gods mad and make them turn. When they do they create a foothold in this world that makes it possible for things like the Forgotten to cross. I cannot allow that to happen."

Sen's insides seized and scrambled as the fujo's eyes went dangerously cold. The conviction in the fujo's eyes chilled her blood because the crazy lady really meant what she was saying.

"I… I don't understand!"

The fujo snorted bitterly. Standing taut and ready like she'd been born with a bow in her hand the fujo didn't even look tired even as Sen's knees trembled with the exertion it took to keep control of her fire.

"It's obvious that you're a novice and an idiot so I'll spell it out for you. You have a choice: leave now and live or stay and die."

All at once anger and terror thrilled up into her throat as Sen went sick with the possibility that she might actually have to _hurt_ this crazy woman to get her to stop! Her sweaty hands began to shake even as her fire continued to crack and rage, straining to fight its way free. All at once Sen was pleading with the fujo, desperately holding out her bow as if it could prevent her from coming any closer.

"Look, lady! I mean it when I say really don't want to fight you!"

The fujo's face went even grimmer as she murmured the words.

"So be it, little girl."

The only reason Sen saw was because of the glasses.

They saved her life.

She threw herself sideways as the fujo let go of her string.

But the bitch was fast, way too fast!

She wasn't playing nice or holding back.

This wasn't a kid's story.

And Sen paid the price for treating all of this like it didn't count.

The fujo's arrow caught her right in the shoulder. It glanced off a rib, burying itself deep in the nook between her arm socket and shoulder blade, punching into her with such force she spun on her toes. She bounced as the impact threw her down knocking all the out of her lungs. That was the only reason she couldn't scream as agony set fire to her entire body. It all happened so fast it took a second for pain to catch up with her. But then it crashed over her in a crushing wave that set every nerve and vein in her chest and arm burning with agony as her vision swam in nauseating clouds of red and white. Bells rang in her ears even as harsh reed ropes exploded from the sand, threading around her to tighten like vices. As she finally managed to drag in a gasping breath it escaped her lips in a tortured scream. She nearly passed out in the swimming sea of red hot icy agony.

Then the fujo was standing right over her drawing another arrow.

The crazy bitch's face was dead as she sighted the point.

There wasn't enough time to do anything.

Sen could barely think through the pain.

Her fire got all kinds of confused in the mess of it.

The fujo intoned her words like this was all some sick ritual.

"I see you, Sen. You are a bridge that cannot be allowed to stand."


	19. Chapter 19

**CHIHIRO**

Frozen dread dissolved the ground beneath her back.

It felt like she was falling, like she'd tipped off the cliffs by Sengen's arch again.

Time seemed to slow as the fujo released the arrow.

The buzzing twang of the bow string hummed on her skin.

With the sound came a familiar shadow.

Sen was no stranger to its presence.

It had chased her with needled fingers that left a scar on her thigh.

It had thrown her off a roof then tried to strangle her in Onsen's pond.

It had swallowed her whole only to spit her up.

Here it was again, glinting in the firelight, flying forward to meet her.

But even as death reached for her, something ripped her from its grip.

The arrow shattered mid-air, cut in half, knocked aside. Harmless splinters pelted Sen's face. Finally she saw the sword as again it flashed back and forth like silent lighting. Wind; it hissed through the air in a blinding flash. And her insides sang with relief because it smelled like rain. Kohaku's passed over her like a silent cloud, eclipsing the gouts of fire that erupted in the periphery of her vision like demons of like. Sen gritted her teeth against a scream of pain as the wind towed on the shaft of the arrow. Rolling onto her side to escape the pull of the gale she found her nose inches from the cats. Cinna stared at her in helpless horror, cringing and writhing as angry bells rang and screamed in their ears. Again that great welling wave of calm washed through Sen as she stared at her friend and knew that she would die if she didn't do something.

Instinct took over, slicing through pain with the indomitable urge to escape. Fighting the sharp cutting edges of the twined rice reeds, Sen wormed her hand between the anchoring ropes. But even as she struggled for some reason the ropes were beginning to relax even as the bindings holding the cat didn't so much as budge. Sen knew in that uncanny way of knowing without knowing that it was because she was human. Finally Sen's hand slipped into her coat pocket; barely she brushed the lid of the gehobako with her index finger. All she could see what the memory of the dragons on the knife's scabbard. She held the cold stare of the beast's sapphire eyes firmly in her mind.

 _"Knife!"_

Even as she hissed the word between her teeth it was in her hand. The biting metal was on fire with cold as she struggled to free it from the scabbard. Finally the blade slid free. Barely nicking the ropes Chihiro jolted as they shuddered and rustled. At once they writhed against her body like living things, disintegrating into frothing salt water! The water soaked her through only to start up from clothes in hissing plumes of steam that got snatched away into the shrieking wind. Sen struggled not to scream again as another fierce gale towed on the arrow. Rolling back onto her side to get the fletching out of their reach she shuddered as more wetness rolled across her skin inside her clothes.

It wasn't cold or warm.

She could barely even feel it except for the shivering creep of it against her chest.

Then she realized it was blood; her blood.

Sen fought the urge to throw up as she ground her teeth only to realize Cinna was an arm's length away. The cat was struggling desperately in the uncompromising grip of the straw ropes that trussed her from ankle to shoulder. Her perfectly round red eyes stared in awe at something Sen couldn't see. Sen didn't even try to see. Extending her arm even as it shook with exhaustion she barely nicked the cat's ropes with Sengen's knife. Again they recoiled in writhing rustling, eroding like a lit fuse as they transformed into frothy, hissing, salt water! The cat got doused even as she catapulted off the ground like a spring trap. Then the bells rang again in Sen's ears like silver thunder. The one in her heart hummed in sympathy. Lying there Sen wondered bitterly what good looking in Sengen's mirror had done her.

Because she hadn't seen _any_ of this!

* * *

 **HAKU**

Gods above his head ached. He could not hear anything but the hot throb of his pulse in his ears. It sloshed and swam, filling his skull with angry schools of fish. All the same something nagged through the pain, forcing him to open his eyes. Rolling onto his side he cringed as his pupils tightened painfully. Light dug daggers into the backs of his eyes making his ears ring. Much to his chagrin he could still hear those cursed bells! But then he flinched as something fell beside him spraying him with sand.

It took him a second to see Chihiro.

He saw the arrow first.

Fletched in red, it protruded from her chest.

This could not be real! This had to be some terrible nightmare!

Disbelieving his eyes he stared at the arrow in mounting horror. He did not comprehend the thick bristling ropes that burst from the sand spraying him with more grit. As they bound her tightly her scream of agony stuck him worse than any blow the fujo's bells might muster. The sound shattered something deep inside him. It set free something dark and forgotten. Hanoane was in his hand. Not needing to see he cut down every arrow. Even still, all he could see in his mind's eye was the arrow in Chihiro's chest! Through the veil of that hideousness vision he set his eyes on the fujo and knew it was she who had put the arrow there.

 _HATE!_

He had not known such baleful feeling since he took Jouma's head from her shoulders! Caught up in the crushing wave of its influence he promised Hanoane blood as the wind of his rage detonated in the cavern like a bomb. Feral and unyielding, it screamed up the walls. The mistrals scored ruts in the stones with searing ribbons of sand. Ferociously the tempest obliterated the fujo's subsequent barrage of projectiles. All at once the bells returned.

Bells! Bells! _Horrid_ _bells!_ Their throbbing rhythm weighed of his arms and legs like a hundred stone. At once Haku threw himself into dance lest the chiming tones hurl him down once more. Winding his way through their grasping persuasion, he arched and whirled holding Hanoane tight against his side ready to strike at any moment. Even as the bells sought to hold him down he propelled himself aloft, planting in every step a coiled upsurge of air. He evaded their snares only through constant change, switching back and forth through every style and movement he had ever seen among God and human. As he shot high like a top again his eyes fell on the fujo as she struggled to catch hold of him. Clearly he saw in her face a bald expression of dismay and confusion and knew that he had already won.

Bloodlust surged in his veins as he landed only to spring over another reaching grab of the bells, whipping forward into a flip that set him right at the fujo's feet. Back peddling sharply, she barely deflected Hanoane's edge on ringing bells. The terror etched on her face made the fujo sluggish. Her rhythm broke only for a second. That thin sliver of time was all Haku needed. He slashed sideways and sliced her suzu in half. The bells slipped from the severed metal loop in jangling dissonant chimes. One crushed beneath his foot as he lunged forward with Hanoane held over his head. The fujo stumbled back against the granite wall as a shout of rage lifted from Haku's lips to mix with his screeching wind.

The gale answered his call, boiling ahead of him.

It eroded the stone in heaving rivers of scoring sand.

The searing wind tore across the fujo's exposed skin.

As she shrieked as it turn pink then ran with red.

Gratified by the sight of blood he lifted his sword to end her.

Then bewildering bells rang again!

Haku knocked sideways under their persuasion only to catch himself. Vaulting backwards through the air he whipped his feet back toward the ground and brought his blade ready as he landed with a vigorous spring. Bloodlust thundered in his veins as it propelled him forward. He clashed with his new assailant only to have her withdraw and evade him. It took Haku a moment to see Okesa through the curtain of red in his eyes. Abruptly he skidded to a halt in the sand only to drop Hanoane as terror struck the blade from his hands.

Rage still boiled in his blood.

It had blinded him utterly!

In its thrall he had struck at Okesa!

At once he was sick with how close he had come to dealing death again this night!

Haku found himself short of breath as he flinched back from the cat. Haku wheeled in surprise only to watch in stunned silence as Chihiro struggled to stand. Her white face was etched in pain as she righted, gritting blood streaked teeth behind cracked lips that were turning pale. Again he found himself staring in dread at the terrible, terrible arrow. She gripped the shaft with her other hand as her injured arm hung limply at her side. The shoulder and sleeve of her jacket were wet as if soaked with water. It, however, was not water. Red dripped from the tips of her fingers! Of all the horrors in the worlds the sight of her blood reduced him to nothing. It eroded him as his wind had eroded the stone and the fight left him in a rush. Wind broke on his back, spilling by even as it dwindled. Cold blew through every inch of his soul shivered in consternation. Shrinking from them both Haku held up his hands in wretched shame to prove to both himself and Okesa that he knew the grave error he had made.

Satisfied that he had come to his senses, the cat tossed her head. She turned to the fujo only to crumple to the ground. Stunned, Haku stared as the cursed human smashed the side of Okesa's face with her bow. He had not even seen the bow! Somehow the fujo summoned from thin air! But even as Okesa rolled aside into a crouch furling her fans hissing furiously, even as Haku turned to punch the unyielding female in the face with a fist of wind, even as the fujo knocked an arrow and turned the point on him, the cursed bolt and bow erupted into eerie white flames as Chihiro threw a handful of fire right into the fujo's face. The female loosed a screech as the weapons became ash and embers in her hands. Again the fujo knocked back against the granite boulder as the incandescent fire spread up her arms until it engulfed her entirely. But even as she writhed in the heart of the fire that scorched and gnawed on the stone until it was black, the blaze turned yellow red as the fujo made it her own, shouting furiously over its hollow uncanny roar.

"Do you really think you can best me with fire, little girl!?

She lobbed handful after handful of smoking embers.

The scintillating meteors exploded amongst them in showers of sparks.

In response fire detonated round Chihiro as she absorbed the charring blows.

That left he and Okesa to scramble madly for cover.

The blast threw him into the sand as it smashed against the stone ceiling. Heat seared his face and hands with brilliant ferocity as embers rained from above only to bite at his exposed skin. Slapping at them with hasty jerks Haku scrambled away. Here Okesa caught him, fitting beneath his shoulder and proving her uncanny strength as she hauled him aside. They ducked and wove between growling avalanches of shattered, burning stone as far flung fire caved the passage above. The aluminum staircase folded like paper beneath a roaring torrent of rocks and pebbles. Pressed into the lee of a leaning boulder they choked on smoke and dust fearing the fall of more unruly stones as the ballistic inferno at their backs raged in snarling explosive fury.

All the while the fujo thundered at Chihiro.

"You can't _burn_ me, little girl! _I'm made of fire!"_

As he searched the blaze Haku was offered a glimpse of the female. Relentlessly she railed again Chihiro in a devouring conflagration that threatened to fold the entire cavern. Even as sweat poured down his skin Haku's insides shrank in frozen terror from the sight as he realized how much he had underestimated the fujo. Yes she was both old and human but as he watched her now he realized how she had deceived him. Worse still was how she had deceived herself. Hate had transformed the female in ways beyond her comprehension.

She had become a _demon_!

A _human_ demon, but a demon none-the-less!

But even as the ground trembled with the profound moaning of the weakened stones suddenly the fujo's feral flames tamed. They began to shrink even as their heat intensified. At once they reached as if drawn to the familiar shape forming out of the licking silver tongues. Haku's insides eddied in a gale of cold awe as he found Chihiro made entirely of fire. She was dressed in incandescent white flame. Her silver hair blew around her face in a wild cloud like the smoke that poured out of her body. Back pressed against the wall of granite, the fujo recoiled as slowly her clothes began to char and burn.

"We don't need to do this," Chihiro instructed in a voice that echoed with crackling fire, "Tell us the answer to the question you have seen. That's all we want."

The fujo's face hardened belligerently as she spit at Chihiro.

Flames hissed, blowing a tiny plume of steam back in her face.

"There is no we, little girl," The fujo snarled, "Only us and them! I'll die before I tell you anything!"

Chihiro held up her hand. Balanced on her palm was the tiny box full of mysteries that so disturbed him. From this she produced a single disc of silver that flashed in the crackling light of her blaze like the moon itself. But it did not melt even in the heart of her flames. If anything he could feel the chill emanating from the metal he had once held in his hands. At the sight of Sengen's mirror Haku abruptly threw his eyes aside even yanking Okesa's face into his chest. Holding the cat close to keep her safe from curiosity Haku bent his head over her and tried not to feel vindication as the fujo screamed in anguish.

 _"Zeniba!"_ The female screeched furiously as if every word cost her, _"You will find Zeniba in Higashiyama!"_

Haku almost looked back at them out of shock. The witch's name hit him so soundly his whole body jolted. So Yubaba's twin had survived after all. But the fujo was not finished. With merciless rancor she threw her next words like daggers. Each one cut and twisted in Haku just as it did Chihiro.

"You seek answers! I _curse_ you with answers! You will _never_ bare his children! You will be forced to steal someone else's daughter just as you were stolen from your mother! Whomever you choose will be doomed to live trapped between! She will suffer as you suffer! May you never know peace, you wretched thief!"

Haku flinched as fire howled and stone smashed.

Abruptly the fujo silenced.

Stunned by the female's words and the sudden absence of heat he released Okesa and turned back toward the cavern as darkness fell. Gloom flooded them in a wave of cold that rushed across his skin like water. But embers continued to glow, staring at him in droves of angry winking red eyes as their tiny irritable voices snapped and crackled petulantly. Okesa clung to his jacket as he took a step into the open leaving their hiding spot behind. Extricated himself from the cat's hands silently he begged her to stay back. As Haku picked he way through the dark limping ever so slightly Haku came up short as glass crunched beneath his feet. He frowned down at the broken remnant of his stop watch only for a moment before passing it by.

Haku did not need his glasses to find Chihiro.

She was standing in the middle of the room glowing as if still smoldering.

Beyond her crumpled in a pile of stone splinters was the fujo.

There was a fire scorched crater in the wall above her.

Haku was stunned to find the female still alive.

"I melted your glasses…" Chihiro rasped in a dry, dry voice.

She was still holding Sengen's mirror in her hands! How Haku abhorred the sight of the thing! Trying to ignore it he fought to find words to reassure her.

"It is alright, dear one."

Embers still burned in her eyes as she leveled a haunted stare at the fujo.

"No," she hushed in a hollow voice, "It's not."

He had no time to consider her words as she dropped the mirror and the tiny box as she tipped to the side. In a panic he surged forward on a startled wind to catch her only to suck in a hissing breath. She was _burning_ to the touch! So much so her very clothes began to smoke, soaked with heat that charred his hands! Haku endured the agony until it slipped from in a stifled sob. But he forced himself to hold her even as pain became unbearable, laying her down on the sand even as Okesa scrambled past him reaching for her. He seized the cat, yanking her back even as he recoiled himself.

"Do not touch her!"

Okesa flinched as steam lifted from Chihiro's shoulder in a muted hiss. Folding to his knees beside her he tore at the fabric of her jacket. It gave like brittle charcoal. Beneath it an evil dirty burn puckered the skin where the arrow had been. Fresh blood ran from it only to sizzle and char turning to black charcoal. Again he recoiled in horror from the sight. Nauseated with understanding Haku realized the shaft and fletching had burned away but the head remained buried in her flesh! This was a wound he could not pack with salt or douse with camphor water. In spite of everything Chihiro remained human. Suddenly buried in an avalanche of stark frozen terror Haku realized there was nothing he could do to help her!

"Suzume!" Haku shouted without hesitation, _"Suzume come at once!"_

Instantly fox fires sputtered to life in the granite bowl above. Bristling from head to toe in surprise, Okesa dove behind him hissing in alarm as the eerie whizzing blue light burned back the shadows as they darted like fireflies. Out of their winding shadows the fox appeared in a blooming burst of crackling fire. White robes fluttering, the fox's ragged hair flew around his face in the dwindling flames. The God's face wiped in consternation as his incandescent eyes swept the cavern.

Suzume spun in a circle only to freeze as he saw Chihiro.

The foxfires overhead surged and crackled even as they froze in place.

Haku tipped forward ready to throw himself at the fox's feet to beg his aid. Before he could speak the God backhanded him with such force Haku stumbled sideways blinded by a stunning burst of pain. It spread across the side of his face in a burning wave as he tasted blood in his mouth. Again instinct had him as he reached for Hanoane and found her missing. Instead his fingers closed around his fan as he fell to one knee only to spin. The bell rang as he spread and flourished the fragile red and gold paper. The song of Haku's movements diverted Suzume. Back on his feet Haku melted like a ghost around the fox's viciously swinging fists as the angry constellation of blue Godfire darted down at him in a shower of sapphire comets.

Then Okesa shoved her way between them.

A dour black fan unfurled in her hand.

The iron bell tolled commandingly.

Haku trembled as the sound vibrated in the marrow of his bones.

Even Suzume was forced to submit to its voice.

At once the fox smashed to the ground, crouching in the sand shaking with rage.

His godlights froze mid-air once more.

Here the fox barked in enraged frustration.

 _"Dragon!_ GladlyI would kill you now if it would make a difference!"

But even as Suzume caught fire, producing thriving blue flame as he ground his clenched fists in the sand, the God ceased to fight. Loosing a gusty sigh the fox sagged on hands and knees as his fire extinguished, bowing his head even as he hissed the last through his gritted teeth.

"But it will not…"

Not sure what to make of this, Okesa continued to hold Suzume with the iron bell. Struggling to catch his breath Haku massaged his jaw. It still ached from the first blow the fox had dealt him. Now the slow prickling ache of a bruise was spreading across his cheek from where the God had struck him a second time. All the same Haku was forced to reckon with the change in the God. Openly Suzume admitted the futility of his anger and the violence it inspired. Furthermore, that the fox had chosen to answer Haku's call at all was astonishing. But there was no time to ponder this. He was furious with the fox for wasting time on anger when Chihiro was obviously wounded.

"Put our quarrel aside and see to Chihiro, Suzume-san!"

At once the fox growled explosively, visibly fighting the bell.

"Release me, cat!"

Appealing to Okesa Haku nodded in hasty encouragement. It was then that he realized she was soaked from head to toe in saltwater. Looking more than bedraggled Okesa gritted her teeth, looking between them in obvious skepticism. Finally she pulled a sour moue and folded the black fan. Retreating on nimble feet, she hid behind Haku knees as the fox shoved himself upright, sitting back on his heels to shake himself vigorously. Haku and Okesa shrank from his swift movements. But the fox only showed them his back as he whirled to kneel beside Chihiro. Recoiling from Sengen's mirror, the fox hastily groped in the gehōbako, producing a bit of indigo fabric that he used to swaddle the glass before shoving it back into the box. This he slammed shut and shoved away.

At once his foxfires darted to gather in an enormous Godlight that hovered above his head as Suzume ripped and peeled back her charred sleeve. The male's blackened hands froze as he studied the wound. Visibly unsettled, here Suzume tempered showing rare gentleness as he carefully collected Chihiro into his lap. With her back braced on his knees and her head cradled in the crook of his elbow, Suzume beckoned his Godlight with his free hand only to plunge his fingers into the heart of the twining crackling flames. Plucking free a palm full of blue fire, the fox brought the feral lock of fire to his lips, stoking it with breath after blown breath until it shrank into a placid white ember.

Anxiously Haku crept closer, forced to look on from afar as the fox hesitated. The God's pale face tightened as he drew his lips into a dour line. Haku's insides scrambled with apprehension as the fox looked unsure. Before Haku could inquire the reason Suzume set the ember on Chihiro's wound! It sparked and hissed, belching black smoke! Unmoved by the horrible sight Suzume forced it into Chihiro's flesh! He held it there even as her eyes flew wide. Haku did not see the fox flinch as she screeched and fought in his unyielding grip. The sound of her scream blinded Haku, propelling him forward. Okesa caught Haku round the waist as Chihiro sagged back into unconsciousness. All the same he fought the cat's hold, dragging her forward as his wind unsettled the fox's fire. It guttered beneath the fox's hand making him look up in fury.

 _"Stop!"_ Haku thundered, _"You are hurting her!"_

The fox barked back glaring with burning gold eyes.

"The arrowhead melted into a misshapen mass inside! It will tear her apart should I try to remove it so I must melt it again! Cease your harassment and allow me to work!"

Cringing from the words Haku ground his teeth against furious replies. He was forced to watch from the corners of his eyes as the fox blew on the ember. The sickening sweet smell of burning flesh turned his stomach making him gag. Haku flinched again as Okesa's arms tightened until they caused pain. She buried her face in the small of his back, shaking as she clung to him. He covered her hands with his only to cringe in pain as the blistered burns on his palms throbbed. Ignoring the sensation, he could not bring himself to look away as Suzume's face cleared with intense concentration.

Suddenly the fox snatched back his hand and gathered Chihiro close.

Haku's skin crawled in revulsion as Suzume closed his mouth over the wound.

He sucked and pulled on her pale shoulder only to turn aside and spit.

Molten metal and foxfire spattered the sand in a hissing boil of black smoke.

Suzume's mouth was bloody as he straightened to run his hand over the mark. Blowing on it as if soothing the angry wound, the gaping mouth of the puncture closed under the fox's continued ministrations. Haku stared in awe as relief ran through his veins like cold water. Heaving a gusty sigh, Suzume sat back on his heels and primly wiped his mouth on his sleeve. All the tension ebbed from him as the fox smoothed the hair from her soot stained face.

"Chihiro? Can you hear me, child?"

Affection was plain in the God's golden eyes as he quietly called her awake.

"Mmmm?"

Haku's knees ceased to work as she made a sleepy sound. His chest became painfully small for the swelling emotions that closed his throat and welled up into his eyes. Relief surged through his veins like cold, cold water. Absently Chihiro lifted a hand to rub her eyes. As he might admonish a child Suzume brushed her hand aside with a mild disapproving moue only to temper as her eyes fluttered open. As she stared at him her brow tightened with confusion. He was frowning again, swatting her hand as she scratched her shoulder.

"Do not trouble it, child."

Abruptly her face wiped with shock. She sat up with a strangled squeak only to brush at her shoulder again and again as if it was covered in spiders. Madly she stared from the corners of her eyes trying to see the pink star-shaped scar planted below the curve of her shoulder. All the while Suzume caught and tossed aside her hands in utter exasperation.

"Child! I said not to trouble it!"

Finally he was forced to catch both and hold them firmly.

As he did Chihiro was stared up at him blankly.

"Suzume?"

Here the cat spit an angry growl and shoved her fan back in her sleeve.

"Nice ah yeh's _t'show up_ , neh!"

It took Haku a moment to realize Okesa was speaking to Suzume. He startled as she shoved one of his arms high only to invade his pockets as if they belonged to her. Yanking free the sloshing gourd she uncorked it with sharp yellow teeth. Dropping onto her knees she seized one of his hands and doused it with hot camphor smelling water. Haku sucked a breath between his teeth as the water stung and tingled, fidgeting as she roughly massaged away the cracked blisters before moving on to his other hand. All during her work Okesa admonished the fox.

"An' where wuz yeh, neh!?"

Suzume growled at the cat as he roughly plucked Chihiro from the ground. She and Haku stared across the distance at loss as the Gods quarreled.

"My ties are cut, cat! I no longer know when I am needed unless called!"

Continuing to show the fox her back, Okesa hauled Haku upright just as briskly leaving him light headed in her grip. Steadying him, the cat continued to dress down the fox as her velvet black ears flattened and her bristled tail lashed. Absently Okesa dusted him off before shoving the gourd and his sword back in the shadows of his coat.

"Yeh came, sure 'nough! But t'moment yeh did yeh went after Haku ready t'tear 'im up even though Chihiro wuz jus' layin' there _bleedin'_! But yeh didn' even see 'er yeh wuz too busy bein' angry! Yer angry s'makin' yeh blind an' stupid, neh fox!"

Suzume flinched as if Okesa had slapped him. Here the cat sighed and softened as finally she turned to frown at the fox.

"All t'world got it out fer us, neh Suzume? We _need_ t'stick together!"

He cut her off with an angry slash of his hand.

"I am here, am I not?!"

She pulled a sour moue and tossed her hip to the side.

"Yeh's here alright but y'still bein' ah _pissy_ _bitch!_ "

Haku's lips quirked as the fox went red in the face. Suzume sputtered indignantly as his foxfires tinged pink. Here the male's head jerked to the side as the fujo moaned. The God left Chihiro in a lurch as he strode forward to investigate. In a burst of wind Haku surged to the side at once barring the fox's path. But Suzume had already seen the fujo. His face darkened as his fires darted over to light the unconscious female. Already rage was boiling in the God's gold eyes.

"Is that the human who put the arrow in Chihiro!?"

Anticipating violence, Haku sank onto his heels in a ready stance as he found his fan with his hand. Then he appealed for reason knowing it was a futile gesture.

"It is not worth it, Suzume-san."

As the fox turned on him in a fierce whirl, Haku's insides seized with the instinct to attack. But he held himself back because the fox did not strike at him as he had before. All the same, Suzume thundered in his face as his Godlights shattered into a boiling constellation ring of snarling blue fire.

" _Dragon! I do not understand you!_ How is it you protect the villain responsible for such a _heinous_ act!?"

Haku absorbed the fox's fury with cool calm. Grimly Haku glanced toward the unconscious fujo. Fury to match the fox's rage coiled in the pit of his stomach at the sight of the female. The fujo had tried to kill Chihiro and Okesa both. For a moment he considered surrendering the human. Suzume, however, was not at peace in this moment. In his unbalanced state the fox would not hesitate to kill the fujo. Haku himself had attempted just that before Okesa rescued him from hate. Haku, however, had seen the truth in Suzume. For all his bluster and fury, at his heart the fox was a God foresworn to safeguard life. And so Haku offered a dire truth in hopes of persuading the fox not to forsake himself.

"None of us will escape this journey unscathed, Suzume-san. Hate has made this female a demon. It has driven her to do terrible things. Just as hate will no doubt drive you to do things that you regret should you give it reign in this moment."

Again Suzume flinched as if struck by something Haku said.

It was obvious that he was listening now.

Haku held out his hands, staring at them still seeing Jouma's blood.

"There is blood on my hands, Suzume-san. In anger I took a life needlessly. I will carry the weight of that stolen life for the rest of my days. You carry too much sadness already, Suzume-san. I hope to spare you the burden of sorrow I carry now."

Haku looked up sharply as Suzume growled low and deep in his chest. The God recoiled a step, staring at him askance from the corners of his eyes. His face was tight with a mixture of astonishment and wrath.

"You see too clearly, dragon! Look away!"

Haku threw his eyes aside as commanded, but as he did a spark of hope kindled in his heart. Perhaps there could be a truce between them after all. Regardless, it was more than he had hoped for. Violence aside, Suzume seemed no longer intent on killing the fujo. Furthermore, Suzume did not seem intent on killing him either. Haku did not know what had changed the Gods mind. He did not need to know. Haku was eternally grateful all the same. Here he shrank on a started breeze as Suzume spat at the fujo.

"Forsaken human," Suzume intoned ominously, "May fire forever renounce you."

As his foxfires extinguished into sputtering smoke Haku's insides crawled in horror as all the light fled the room at Suzume's curse. With that the fox turned and snatched up the gehōbako. This he shoved into Chihiro hand before taking her wrist and hauling her for one of the still open stone passages. Already Chihiro was resisting but he dragged her along all the same.

"Wait! Suzume, wait!"

What Chihiro threw after him next brought the God to a standstill.

"There's something here that has to do with Lin!"

The fox froze only to whirl staring at her in a stunned expression. All at once she was pulling the male through the darkness to another stone passage as if she knew the way. Without a word Suzume followed. Haku scrambled after them as Okesa took his arm and towed him in her wake. He could not run for the pain in his head. For fear of hitting it again he bent as low as possible as he followed the cat through the narrow echoing tunnel.

Cold fresh air slapped him in the face as he emerged only to find himself at the base of the misty chasm. Water hissed and trickled distant, echoing through the oddly dry ravine. Peering overhead he caught a glimpse of the spindly ribs of the rickety bridge as the moon winked through the low snow laden clouds. But as his breath lifted from his lips in a white cloud to match the sky he bent as a wave of nausea robbed his knees of strength. Gritting his teeth Haku caught the stone wall and was forced to reckon with the fact that his exertions were catching up with him.

Following the cat like a crippled old man Haku found the way well graded, drained, and oddly devoid of brush. At once he knew exactly where he was as he had overseen the building of this place. Quickening his pace in spite of his illness Haku came upon Chihiro and Suzume as the ravine dead ended into a massive wall of stone. She was steaming in the frozen winter air, standing at the base of a massive boulder five times her size. This rock was covered in the moss of ages. However, instead of the rice ropes that marked sacred rocks huge iron chains garlanded the hulking stone.

"That's the stone I saw! The one with the chains!"

Chihiro hushed beneath her breath.

She stared as if seeing through it into another world.

"That is no stone," Suzume pronounced solemnly, "That is a God."


	20. Chapter 20

**HAKU**

Haku found himself perfectly still as he stared up at the massive rock.

Eerie premonition buzzed in his blood as he stood in its shadow.

Because he knew this boulder by name.

"Seki no Taro-san…!"

As if awakened by the name the ground gave a jarring lurch. Chihiro shrank into Suzume with a gasp as Okesa hissed and clung to his arm. Haku, however, stood unafraid as the rock unfolded revealing that it was actually a massive oni. With every slow movement the ogre's body emitted a low growling grinding that echoed unnervingly in the very pit of Haku's chest. It inspired in him an instinctual urge to run. The ground continued to shake as the monstrous chains rang and jingled, pulling taught as the oni yanked on the shackles immobilizing its wrists. Two more chains anchored the oni's neck to the sides of the hill, preventing him from standing. Every link vibrated with a caustic magic similar to the collar he had been forced to wear. All the same, Haku cautioned the others backwards until they were well outside the ogre's range. Blinking granite eyelids that grated like stone the behemoth looked down at them with the flinty obsidian shards of its eyes.

"YOU KNOW MY NAME, LITTLE HUMAN?"

Seki no Taro's voice fell like a cascading avalanche of stone.

He bowed reverently before shouting his answer.

"I am Nigihayami Kouhaku. Do you remember me, Seki no Taro-san?"

The oni's drawn face cleared in loud scraps of stone.

Again the sound of his voice grated on the canyon walls like dragging rocks.

"LITTLE DRAGON… I REMEMBER YOU…"

Haku winced, becoming keenly away of the fact that Okesa was gripping his arm so tightly there would no doubt be a bruise. She clambered to hide in his shadow as the oni lowered his head to study him closely. As he did the ogre's face loosed a cloud of dust as it drew into tight lines of dismay.

"I FIND YOU LESS, LITTLE DRAGON. DID THE FUJO UNMAKE YOU?

Haku shook his head and shouted his reply once more.

"No, Seki no Taro-san. I have chosen to become this of my own will."

Settling back against the stone wall the oni caused a tiny earthquake. Haku rode the rolling ground as the trees on the slopes shook. Drifts of snow and bits of stone poured down the dark edges of the ravine. The oni sighed gustily as if terribly sad.

"IF THAT IS SO THEN GODS ARE DOOMED."

As silence suddenly returned to the frozen ravine Okesa hissed in his ear.

"Who's tha', neh!?"

Haku was careful not to turn, keeping her in his shadow as he explained.

"Seki no Taro is the master of this valley. Yubaba hired him to sway the other oni who dwell in these mountains. Under his command they built the tunnel for her trains. After they finished Yubaba hired them to unload the coal beneath the bath house. Seki no Taro-san and I worked together to make sure the oni did not eat the frogs or yuna."

All at once the oni voice echoed like angry thunder in their ears.

"I AM MASTER NO MORE, LITTLE DRAGON. YUBABA WAS EATEN BY HER GREED. MY CHILDREN DEFY ME AND MAKE MISCHEIF. A FUJO CAME AND TRAPPED ME HERE. I AM COMPELLED TO GUARD THIS PASSAGE. DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER OR I WILL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU."

He smashed his fist against the stone floor in a movement swift so it was stunningly incongruous with his size. The jarring impact threw all of them from their feet as it set the chasm quaking and shuddering. Trusting Suzume to look after Chihiro Haku was forced to accept Okesa's hand as he struggled upright in exhaustion. Slowly, however, the oni turned wistful.

"I BUILT THIS TUNNEL, LITTLE DRAGON; STRANGE THAT I SHOULD BECOME THE GATE OF ITS CROSSING. SOME DAY SOON I WILL BECOME ONLY STONE AND THIS WAY WILL BE CLOSED FOREVER TO BOTH GODS AND HUMANS."

Haku's insides seized with sorrow as he stared up at the dying oni. What a terrible thing for the worlds to loose such a God. All at once Haku was studying the chains with serious intent. Again he addressed the ogre, trying to find some way to shout with reverence.

"If I was to attempt to free you, Seki no Taro-san, would you try to kill me?"

The oni laughed. His slow booming chuckle rolled like thunder.

"OF COURSE, LITTLE DRAGON."

Haku shied as Okesa yanked him to the ground and sit on him like a cushion.

"Are _y'nuts_ , kitten!?"

Staring up at her in utter consternation all the blood flooded his face.

"Okesa!" Haku choked, "Get up at once, Okesa!"

She did not release him. She hissed at him furiously, flattening her ears and lashing her tail. Then she crossed her arms, sat back on her heels, and tossed her head making it clear she would be going nowhere. At once Haku wilted in exasperation before pointing at the train tracks lifting from the stone beneath the oni.

"We need this way open, Okesa! That is the crossing between this world and the next that the train must make to enter Clock Tower Town! It will _smash_ to pieces against Seki no Taro if we do not permit him to move!"

Still straddling his stomach the cat hauled him upright so she could hug his face into the soft folds of her sweater. Vigorously rubbing her cheeks against the crown of his head, making aching head swim, the cat growled even as she purred.

"Aye ain't gonna let yeh get _smashed_ t'dust!"

As his cheeks turned incandescent in embarrassment Haku struggled against the cat's enthusiasm wordlessly appealing to Chihiro for help as she crept into his view. She, however, looked away as her lips twitched. Suzume caught her arm, towing her back to his side all the while cagily examining the ogre. Flashing him an irritated frown, Chihiro pulled herself from his grip, going a little pale as she bowed awkwardly before shouting at the oni.

"Hi, um…! H-how do we get you free?!"

Holding out his wrists the oni made the metal links clang like struck steel.

"REMOVE MY CHAINS, LITTLE FUJO."

Haku stared at the oni's bonds in a loss. A single link was almost the size of his Okesa. How he could hope to cut through these he did not know! Here Chihiro's face wiped with that strange blank expression of understanding he had glimpsed several times before. At once she produced the mysterious box only to plunge her hand inside, addressing it like a person as she made her request.

"Can I have that knife again?"

She blinked, removing her hand only to jolt and shrink as she found Sengen's knife clutched in her fingers. Okesa recoiled from the blade with a violent hiss, releasing him to hide at the small of his back. As Chihiro crouched beside him Haku found himself staring at the new scar on her bare shoulder. He barely resisted the urge to touch it. Though she was no longer smoking he was still afraid she might burn him. Looking back to the knife he flinched as she unsheathed it.

The blade flashed in the dark like a strike of lightning.

Hissing again the cat fled to hide behind Suzume's knees. Both fox and cat looked on in trepidation as Chihiro nicked a small stone. Where the knife scratched it left behind an etched line of fizzling water that spread until the pebble was reduced to a puddle of green smelling salt water. Horrified by the blade's potential Haku scrambled to his feet and backed away. Grimacing at the belligerent sapphire eyes of the dragon on the hilt the wind of his disquiet stirred the frozen landscape. A single scratch could reduce absolutely anything to seawater: flesh, stone, even metal. All at once he found himself looking to the oni's chains even as his blood turned to ice.

"I cannot wield it," Suzume muttered sullenly, "Water will not obey fire."

"I will do it," Haku pronounced the words carefully to keep his voice from shaking, "I am wind and water. Though the ocean forsakes me I have the best chance."

Even as Chihiro opened her mouth to object, Okesa laughed incredulously.

She shoved the fox out of the way to stab a claw in his direction.

"Like _hell_ y'do! Y'cun barely stand! Yeh's _shakin'_ yeh's so tired!"

Haku glared at her frostily not liking to be reminded of his weakness, because he was indeed shaking with exhaustion. It made him doubt himself and the plan he was hastily sketching with each passing moment. Haku did not miss the fact that Suzume was looking on in uncharacteristic silence as if weighing every word spoken. And Haku knew as he glanced aside to Chihiro only to find her frowning that it was not just the cat he strove to convince. Calmly Haku explained with conviction what he fervently prayed would not turn false.

"Between us there are four fans and a flute, Okesa. You will hold Seki no Taro-san's arms. Chihiro will hold his legs. Suzume-san will lull his mind with song. You must hold him long enough for me to cut his bonds."

The cat tossed her hip and crossed her arms as she continued to glare.

"Then wot, neh!? We's oni diner, tha's wot!"

Turning cold as the snow he returned her sullen stare obdurately.

"Seki no Taro will not harm us once the spell of his bonds it cut. Once this way is open we will cross by the main gate and wait for Hayashimi's train in Clock Tower Town. They must pass and we will know it when they do."

The cat blinked rapidly before throwing her hands high to gesture wildly.

"Tha's yer _plan!?_ Y'wann go back _there!?_ Y'almost got _killed_ last time y'went back there! Wot we gonna do when we git there, neh kitten? How's we gonna eat an' where's we gonna stay!? How's we gonna stop t'train anyhow?"

They were valid questions and unfortunately ones for which he did not yet have answers. Haku, however, was not about to reveal the holes in his plan. It became clear to Haku that Okesa was stalling. Strange that it was the cat who sought to coddle him. Narrowing his eyes he saw through her anger and was not surprised to find Okesa was afraid. She was shaking with terror, eyes dilated until her red irises were all but swallowed in the night. His knees shook in sympathy even as he tempered, appealing to her in a small voice as he offered her his hands.

"This is our best chance to save Hayashimi. We know this place and those who dwell within. We must use this knowledge to our advantage regardless of the risk. As before, we go together dear Okesa. Trust me now as I trust you?"

The cat cast about trying to object only to hear the truth in his words. Wilting, she loosed a huffy sigh then turned on Chihiro, making her squeak again as she hauled her down to shoved two fans into the fold at the front of her coat. It was then that Haku realized the oni was watching him with enigmatic obsidian eyes. Again Seki no Taro's voice rolled a quake through the narrow chasm.

"I URGE YOU TO RECONISDER, LITTLE DRAGON."

Haku frowned grimly only to bow unconsciously.

"It is as I have said, Seki no Taro-san. We have no choice."

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Magic nibbled Sen's palm where she clutched the bells to keep them silent. She frowned deeper and deeper as she studied the red, gold, and silver fans. Trying to whirl one on her fingertip like the cat she almost dropped it. Cringing in chagrin Sen almost gave them back in a panic.

"S'okay, kiddo. Y'don' have t'do it pretty."

Before she could shove the fans into the cat's hands Cinna cut in encouragingly. Flourishing her fans and making the bells ring and chime, the tiny woman sank into a graceful whirl in spite of the frozen dark and the uneven terrain.

"We's jus' holdin' 'im down, neh? Gotta think tha' as y'dance. Like this, neh?"

At once Sen lurched forward like her body didn't belong to her anymore. Unnerved, she moved like a pro following in Cinna's shadow as the cat directed her every action. With each stomping step Sen sank low and firm over her bent knees until it felt like she weighted hundreds of pounds. The matched furling downward strokes of her fans produced a powerfully compelling force. Stunned and enthralled, she watched the cat's every move trying to follow. When it finally seemed like she was getting a handle on the steps Cinna's motivating directions dissolved abruptly, making her stumble on a patch of ice as the cat released her.

Out of nowhere Suzume caught her. The fox was extremely grabby tonight. His frozen fingers burned against her bare skin. Sen winced as a blinding bolt of pain shot from the ball of right her shoulder to the very tips of her fingers. At once they went numb with gnawing soreness that almost made her drop a fan. Stunned by the unhappy reminder of the injury she still carried Sen's insides went cold. It was still kinda hard for her to wrap her brain around the fact that she'd had an arrow in her shoulder not long ago.

But then again, magic wasn't something you ever got used to.

Even as she held in the gasp of pain Suzume saw all the same. So did Kohaku. He took an unconscious step towards her only to back off as Suzume growled at him. Even as Sen's heart thrilled into her throat on a geyser of panic at the sound, that was it. No fist fights. No wind and fire fits. Sen had no idea what miracle had inspired this change of heart. She'd woken up only to find they were tolerating each other's company.

Barely, but at least it was a start.

Suzume turned his back on Kohaku as he kept her arm and towed her close. Bleached of all color save his luminous gold eyes, Suzume looked like a ghost in the night. His dim blue foxfires that set the ice hanging from the frozen walls of the dark canyon glinting like diamonds. In their flickering light she watched his face creased with angry worry. He opened his mouth to command her to go hide in a corner somewhere and stay out of the fight. But he remained silent as she stared back at him defiantly. There was no way this was going to work without her help and she made that plain as she continued to glare at him.

Even though it was a really bad idea Sen was going to dance for Lin's sake.

Suzume's face grew darker and darker as he was forced to reckon with that.

Finally he released her to turn on the cat with a dour frown.

"Keep the arm movements simple, cat," Suzume instructed commandingly.

Cinna tossed her hip at the fox as she hissed.

" _Tch!_ One-two, one-two. _Simple_ 'nough, neh?"

Suzume rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the cat even as she sashayed back and forth at his feet only to bump him with her hip momentarily unbalancing him. The fox threw an irritated growl after her as he skulked away. Cinna laughed after him as she continued to traipse in a circle demonstrating what certainly didn't look simple to Sen. Unconsciously she found herself shadowing the cat again, counting along beneath her breath concentrating on keeping up with the movements so hard she gave herself a headache. Here Sen realized Kohaku was smiling at her from the corners of his eyes. Scorched and windblown, he looked more than haggard in the dark.

Her insides turned to ice as blue glinted in the middle of his chest. Sen scowled at Sengen's jewel here it hung around his neck. It was the same color as the sapphires glinting on the hilt of the knife on his belt. He couldn't draw it unless he was wearing the jewel. The exposed skin on her arm prickled with cold as the frozen air made the star-shaped scar on her shoulder tingle eerily. Folding her fans and sticking them in her pockets, she crept away from the cat so she could sidle up to Kohaku.

"Why do you have to be the one to cut the chains?"

Looking away Sen whispered beneath her breath ashamed for even saying it. She knew why it had to be him. The ogre was really, really old. That meant he was really strong. One dancer wasn't going to be enough to hold him. They were lucky that Suzume was with them. Four bells and a flute was pretty good odds. All the same, it didn't make things any easier.

"I trust you to hold the oni, dear one. Trust me to be swift."

Her head emptied as he hushed the soothing words against her cheek as his hand slide around her waist, pulling her close. Sen tipped her forehead against his shoulder, clenching her eyes shut even as he turned to plant a gentle kiss on her brow. His lips were cold, making her insides shudder, because she could feel him shaking. Even as she tightened her hands on his coat hastily they shuffled apart as the cat called them out.

"Quit canoodlin' kiddies! Let's do this, neh!"

Grinding her teeth, Sen watched as Suzume, Cinna, and Kohaku line up shoulder to shoulder. The fox flexed his fingers along the holes of his golden flute in a blur as the cat furled her red and black fans, practicing a few of her so-called simple moves. Kohaku plucked Sengen's knife from his belt, going Godish as his luminous green eyes turned razor sharp as he studied the chains as if judging the distance. Joining him Sen held her breath as the silence became so intense all she could hear was the thunder of her pulse in her ears. Taking a deep she held it as magic hummed and throbbed in her blood, called up by the Gods beside her. Breathing out she found that strange calm that was beginning to redefine her. It was almost heavy, making her sink lower onto her heels. Her fingers sang and tingled as she took the fans from her pockets. A jolt of electricity shot of her arms as she flicked them open with crisp snicks. Tilting her head back further and further Sen looked up at the oni. Seki no Taro was just sitting there watching them like a stone statue. It was super creepy, but she wasn't scared. She'd seen creepier.

"On my mark," Suzume commanded as he lifted his flute to his lips.

The slow lulling song lifted from his shakuhachi like smoke.

It settled through the canyon like the snow, making Sen sleepy.

She jolted as Cinna began stamping her feet only to ring her bells in counter point.

 _Jing, jang._ Stomp-stomp. _Jing, jang._

With every flash of her fans the cat mimed firm downward motions. Sen followed, doing her best to keep up her end of the moving spell. All too quickly her shoulder began to burn. So did her thighs. She'd been sitting on her butt writing for the past six months. The only cardio she'd managed was playing Just Dance on the wii with Michio. But she kept up, watching Seki no Taro from the corners of her eyes only to find herself frowning uncertainly. The oni didn't so much as flinch in response to their song. Snow was beginning to filter from the dark sky as Suzume's melody echoed off the cliffs. White piled on his pate and shoulders.

"Is it working?" Sen breathed between gasped breaths.

"Dunno," Cinna watched the oni with cautious eyes, "Only one way t'find out."

As the cat tossed her head Kohaku darted forward.

He moved so fast Sen didn't even see him.

The only evidence of his passing was his rain scented wind.

It poured across her back as if to pursue him, leaving her shivering in its wake.

Sen gasped as a torrent of water suddenly poured from thin air only to smash against the bare stone. The chains at the Oni's right side melted away as the unexpected river gushed down the ravine. Seki no Taro's fist fell to the ground seconds later sending a bone-rattling jolt ricocheting off the stone. The ground beneath Sen's feet pitched and rolled making her heart thrill up into her throat as muddy water surged around her ankles. But she fought the towing current, keeping time and staring firmly at the oni's feet as she willed them to stay put.

In that same moment a twin cascade of water poured down the ogre shoulders sending a flashflood churning around her feet. Her knees were beginning to shake, burning with exertion and cold even as she forced herself to keep dancing, struggling to keep up as she waded and stomped in the icy water. Suzume's song trilled in her ears, swelling until it filled her head, making her miss the ringing in her ears. Sen faltered as a final surge of prodigal saltwater swelled above her knees. It pulled her over, dumping her face first into the gurgling arctic tributary. Sen gasped through chattering teeth as Cinna's bells rang, dancing her up out of the frozen water. But as she staggered forward she fought to pull backwards as Seki no Taro shuddered violently.

Finally free, the massive stone oni tipped forward.

Ripping free from the wall his absence left it compromised.

As he smashed against the ground on hands and knees the resulting earthquake rocked the entire canyon. Precariously balanced boulders piled on the cliffs above cracked and slipped. They came crashing down in a bouncing cascade of thundering stone. The roar of stone swallowed their song Sen watched in stunned silence as Suzume seized Cinna dragging her aside as a mammoth boulder fell from both lips of the canyon only to smashed into the water right where they'd been standing. She lost sight of them as the resulting wall of frigid mud overwhelmed her. It ducked her head again, lifting her from her feet only to flood her forward into the path of the falling stones. Coughing and struggling to stand, she forced herself up out of the mire as spinning rocks bounding off the ravine walls to splash down all around her.

 _"Chihiro!"_

Her head jerked up as Kohaku shouted her name. Sengen's jewel burned in the dark glowing like a beacon where it hung around his neck and the churning water parted for him as if cut by a knife. He blew past her riding a violent wind, hauling her upright by the back of her coat only to pluck one of the fans from her hands, whirling away never loosing momentum as he dragged her with him. Using hissing lashes of water directed by the singing ringing bell he slapped aside jagged slabs of stone that skidded off the ravine lip right over their heads.

At once escape became impossible as he became consumed by the act of warding away stone. Punching and kicking and leaping in arching twists that blew her mind Kohaku sailed weightlessly through the air as he hurled the cascading curtain of rock away with fierce jets of wind and water. Wind screamed in her ears, tearing at her hair and clothes as bells rang and throbbed in her bloody. Caught in the giddying whirling pull of the churning water at her feet Sen wheeled her remaining fan over her head, making the bells ring commandingly as she directed fist-sized rocks away from him.

The stone listened!

Her insides rang with awe as she caught the rock in the snare of bell song. It batted it aide like a badminton birdie. But her enthusiasm burned to ash as the weight of a much bigger stone punched through the grip of the bell. It had no interest in listening to her song and she was forced to obliterate it with a hastily cobbled handful of fire at the last minute. Red bright fire erupted in the dark in a hissing plume of steam as the stone shattered in a cloying cloud of dust that turned to mud, spraying them with cutting shards of rock and snapping embers. She threw up more fire to save herself from the flying razor-edged flints. Several cut her face all the same proving using fire situation was a very bad idea!

The recoil from the impact slid her across the icy stone. At once she found herself outside of the narrow haven of Kohaku's influence. Even as rocks continued to rain from above he smothered and redirected her feral blaze with twists of wind only to catch her gaze with his burning jade eyes. Throwing up his fan he ensnared her with his bell in the nick of time. Her feet skidded across the icy stone as he hauled her toward him so swiftly her insides seized and flip. Her teeth cracked together as a massive stone smashed in her shadow jolting her off the ground. But as she tipped and teetered he towed her back to center only to overcompensate and unbalanced himself. Instinct surged in Sen's blood as she anchored herself into the stone, pulling him as he had pulled her. Even as he tipped backwards his green eyes flew wide in stunned surprise as she caught him with her bell. Like a cracking whip he jerked back toward her as their bells rang in unison.

They caught each others arms as they whirled like some kind of fun park ride.

Their feet left the ground in the pull of the fantastic momentum.

Clinging to each other, spiraling ear-piercing wind swelled beneath them.

The tornado hurled off the last skittering stones as it surged overhead.

Then the fickle wind dropped them into the frozen shallows as it abated.

And as they floundered the far canyon wall crumbled in Seki no Taro's absence.

Tons of stone dumped into the shallows inspiring another monstrous wall of frozen sludge that leapt up to surge at them. Even as the wave reared, Kohaku catapulted out of the shallows punching his folded hands forward. He spread them in a unassailable motion that split the dirty wave. It surged by only to smash against the wall of stone behind them. The deadly rain of rock began again at their backs as Kohaku spun on his heel to divide again the rebounding wave. Left completely exposed a fist sized stone smashed into his arm with such force it hurled him down into the churning frozen spray.

His scream was swallowed by the bass roar that rolled down from above.

Even as she scrambled to stand in the boiling currents of the water Sen looked.

She watched in horror as the behemoth stones of the shrine cavern buckled.

They teetered then fell like a cascade of monstrous marbles.

Down they fell, smashing the stone torii to power. One demolished the bridge as it bounced off the edge of the cliff. The last rolled right up to the lip over their heads blotting the moon and the sky. Even as rocks roared and the ground trembled, even as a glancing shard of stone cut a jagged gash along her temple in a blinding explosions of pain, Sen threw herself upright. Her body moved of its own accord as she ripped the ribbon festooned handle of bells from the magic box in her pocket. Lashing it high over her head she planted her feet firmly and punched the behemoth rock.

A chorus of bells rang in her ears like a singing silver symphony.

As they did Sen pushed back with all her might and shouted a command.

 _"Stay!"_

The wall of crushing resistance she met collapsed her legs. It smashed her knees against the stone ground hidden in the muddy saltwater sending white hot lances of pain surging through every nerve in her body. Every muscle and tendon in shrieked in exertion as she ground her teeth fighting and railing against the weight of the stone. Her sight grayed and trembled as Sen heaved and pushed until things popped inside her head. Blood poured from her nose as the grinding boulder slowed then teetered to stop. All the same she forced herself slowly back to her feet loosing a dominating shout.

 _"I SAID STAY!"_

It rolled back from the lip of the canyon to perch precariously on the edge as if frightened of the sound. All at once the crushing weight of its presence evaporated from her hands and Sen staggered forward into the moonlight. Stunned and sobbing she stared up at the disk of light peeked through the breaking snow clouds overhead. It glimmered around the edge of the boulder, flooding the canyon with light. Sen stared up at it in amazement only to watch in sinking frozen horror as the lip of stone under the boulder gave beneath its weight. Even as the moon blotted out, even as her dismayed scream was swallowed by the snarling roar of stones, even as the ground jolted so violently she pitched into thin air and landed on her back to cringe in the frozen mud, Sen realized she hadn't been crushed. Peering out from under her up thrown arm she stared through the billowing curtain of thick dust she watched the piled stones arch over her only to remain suspended mid-air. Then she realized the writhing wall of stone wasn't the avalanche.

It was Seki no Taro.

The oni's stone joints ground and grated as he caught the massive boulder like it was nothing, holding it high over his head. He let the landslide bounce off his stomach shielding her from the torrent of pouring rock. Scrambled backwards through the mud she knocked into Kohaku. His hand clamped down on her jacket holding on even as she startled and shied. Sen seized him, shielding him as several massive rocks that crashed down between the oni's legs only to shatter and spray them with more jagged shards of stone. Hastily waving them aside with bells Sen cringed as the mire around them erupted with muddy spray where stones fragment cut mud like knives. Finally the last stones fell silent leaving her ears ringing and her body vibrating the memory of grinding stone.

Then Seki no Taro set the massive boulder down. Sen squeaked in astonishment as the oni moved with deceptive swiftness. The sky hissed as the rock forced the air aside only to make the ground shuddered beneath its weight, making mud ooze and give up water as it sank and settled into the sludge. Then Seki no Taro's granite fingers unfolded right in her face. Sen didn't even have time to scream as she was ripped from Kohaku's grip as the oni plucking her from the ground. Kohaku's shout of dismay was devoured by the wind that whizzing across her mud-caked skin. Her stomach produced an increasingly familiar dizzying flip when the ground disappeared from beneath her feet.

Although his fist completely encircled her waist the oni didn't squeeze or crush her as he brought her right up to his face. His breath blasted her in the face with a smell like the interior of the deepest, darkest, dankest cave. All the while he studied her intensely with the endless corridors of his fist-sized jet black eyes.

"STRANGE… WHEN YOU SPEAK STONE LISTENS."

The oni pronounced in words that made her whole body shake. Terrified, Sen threw her hands high over her head, making her bells ring and jingle harmlessly as she went rigid as a board. They continued to jingle uselessly as she shook from head to toe as the oni's lip peeled up to reveal his sharp granite teeth. All the same she met the ogres gaze and tried not to shriek and struggle. But even as he scrutinized her with his flint black eyes Sen's insides stilled as she somehow knew he wasn't going to hurt her. Slowly curiosity got the better of her, turning fear to awe. She'd seen oni before in Yubaba's bath house, but none compared to Seki no Taro. She cringed as suddenly the ogre laughed in a low booming chuckle rolled in the shattered canyon like thunder.

"LITTLE FUJO, YOU ARE BRAVER THAN YOU LOOK."

"Please, Seki no Taro-san!?" Kohaku pleaded in alarm from somewhere below, " _Please_ do not hurt her!"

The oni was looking down now and his granite features softened fondly.

"DO NO WORRY, LITTLE DRAGON. I WILL NOT HARM HER."

Again wind sang through her hair as the oni lowered his hand. Sen's knees buckled as Seki no Taro carefully set her down. As her feet sank into the sludge she sat in the mud staring up at him at a loss as adrenaline raced through her veins like tracer rounds of ice. Numbly she bounced and jostled as the ground shook with each of the oni's steps. Turning away the ogre shoved the monsters boulders aside, stacking and piling them like kids blocks. Then he parted the thick mud with a single spread of his massive stone palms, clearing a long path from rubble and debris. Out of this he summoned the train tracks from the stone hidden below, beckoning them with the grinding curls of his huge stone digits. Sen shivered violently as the power of Seki no Taro's magic made the very earth shudder and scramble to obey. When he had finished the path was clear.

"GOODBYE, LITTLE DRAGON. GOODBYE, LITTLE FUJO."

Again his voice echoed like distant rolling thunder.

"PERHAPS ALL IS NOT LOST AFTER ALL."

Bowing low, the ogre ducked into the tunnel yawning out of the wall of stone, disappearing away into the dark. Standing shakily as the oni's retreating steps waned into tiny tremors, Sen stared up at the gateway to another world. Out of the mouth breathed the unmistakable bite of magic that belonged only to the Spirit World. It hummed in every cell of her body making the bell in her heart ring a single clear peal of premonition. Again she shivered convulsively as the cold she'd forgotten until now began to seep into her bones making her teeth chatter.

Then the cat tackled her from the side.

Sen dumped sideways into the mud in a harmless chorus of bells.

Cinna was coated in mud.

The only part of her recognizable the flashing red of her irises.

 _"Neh, neh!"_ Cinna screeched in a panic, "There's _bones_ pokin' out!"

Then Kohaku's warbling shouts of pain shattered on the canyon walls, glancing off and around the neatly piled boulders. The sound touched her insides like a live wire, making her blood run cold and sluggish in horror. As if drawn by bells Sen lurched to her feet, stumbling on shaking legs toward the sound only to have it silence. Terrified by the sudden quiet she slogged and scrambled on hands and knees through the thick silt as her breath blew from her lips in a white cloud so thick it nearly blinded her. The cat had her around the waist now, half dragging her around the massive boulder Seki no Taro had caught and set aside.

As they rounded it Sen found Suzume crouched beside Kohaku's prone form.

Panic spiked in her blood like burning acid.

Cinna caught her arms down before she could use bells to rip him away.

Because it took her a moment to understand the fox wasn't hurting Kohaku.

Suzume was helping him.

Unconscious in the mud Kohaku was slung awkwardly across Suzume's bent knee so the fox could hold up his right arm. He had torn the sleeve clear off and was running Kohaku's arm between his grasping hands as if trying to pull it straight. It took Sen a second to see that it was bending in the wrong place, halfway down his forearm, instead of at the elbow. Sen dumped to a seat on the freezing silted ground at once sick with horror. She held her breath against the urge to puke because she could hear the hideous cracking of his bones!

The stone that'd struck him early had pretty much smashed his arm. Working with slow determination beneath the pale glow of a single foxfire Suzume coaxed and snapped Kohaku's bones back into place! Holding it up and inspecting it over and again until he seemed satisfied, Suzume let it drop only to unceremoniously shove Kohaku off of his knee into the mud. Then the fox slapped him hard. Kohaku jolted awake only to stare in stunned surprise up at Suzume. At once Sen was struggling in Cinna's grip but the cat wouldn't let her go.

"Simmer down, kiddo," the cat hissed beneath her breath as she anchored her to the ground, "Let'm sort it out, neh?"

Kohaku attempted to scramble backwards only to fold up in pain grasping his arm. Here Suzume caught him by the front of his jacket pinning him in the mud, holding with the burning intensity of eyes as he muttered in a low angry voice Sen could barely hear.

"Favor your arm, dragon. The bones are still newly mended."

Haku stared askance at the fox with a confused expression that spoke volumes.

"Now it is I who does not understand you, Suzume-san."

Glaring irritably Suzume sat back on his heels. He winced, touching a drying patch of blood on his cheek where a falling rock had cut him.

"It is as you say, dragon; none of us will escape this journey unscathed, which is all the more reason that I should go with you."

Diffidently Kohaku sat up cradling his arm only to bow stiffly. The fox snorted derisively, making the blue ball of fire crackle and hiss.

"Save your esteem for someone who cares. I do not mend your ailments out of benevolence, dragon. I will need yours soon enough, and so I put you back together for her sake as well as mine."

Kohaku glanced across the distance as Suzume gestured to her.

His face wiped with longing as their eyes met.

With that his foxfire snuffed out leaving only the moon to light the canyon.

Sen blinked, because in that moment Suzume was gone as well.


	21. Chapter 21

**HAKU**

Snow swirled around them, drifting down from the low clouds crowding the sky riding on frozen gusts. The whispering voices of the falling flakes hushed with eerie loudness in his ears for the rest of the world was silent and still, dark save for the sleepy lights of the houses perched on the hill. In the wan light spilling out the windows below the blanket of white enrobing the hill behind the Oginos' home grew increasingly unfamiliar beneath the piling drifts save for the hinoki. The elder evergreen remained unchanged. Haku, however, did not see the changeless tree. It was hard to concentrate on anything but the 20 feet of thin air beneath their feet.

Haku shivered violently as his quick short breath plumed again and again between his gritted teeth. Searing pain shot in digging stabs through the marrow of the bones in his newly mended forearm. Forcing himself to endure the taxing sensation, Haku clung to the handle of the umbrella with one hand as his other clamped like a vice around Chihiro's waist. Her back was pressed to his stomach and the messy thicket of her hair invaded his face as it caught in the wind, forcing him to repeatedly blow it aside as it tickled his nose and caught in his lips. With both hands occupied, Haku could only brace his feet against the wall, relying on her alone to anchor them to the second story window frame. Cursing beneath her breath, Chihiro struggled to keep them from floating off into the sky while simultaneously battling to pry free the screen on her bedroom window. It was a two handed task and her progress was painfully slow.

Unfortunately they could not enter by the front door. Although Akio was snoring so loudly Haku could hear him even now Yuko, however, was dozing fitfully on the couch in the living room. Burned, beaten, and caked in frozen mud, they were in no state to be seen by anyone let alone Chihiro's mother. After what they had endured in the valley of the Oni Rocks Haku could barely walk. What little strength he had left had been mostly spent on the motorcycle ride home. He could not risk using magic to hide their appearances. Even though it rendered him weightless already he was shaking with exertion from the simple act of holding the umbrella aloft. And so they were forced to seek entrance in other ways.

"Neh!"

The sudden wind of his surprise filled the fabric of the umbrella. As it lifted them aloft Haku left muddy footprints on the outside wall. Chihiro squeaked, scrambling to catch hold of the frame with both hands as the buffeting gale cast them away from the window. As she towed them back to the side of the building Haku glanced down sharply. The cat was a tiny blot of black as she crouched in the pristine snow. As he stared at her his insides produced an all too familiar dizzying flip that he would never have experienced had he still been a God. At the height the garden looked deceptively small. His mortal instincts knew only too well how quickly the ground would rush up to meet them should he let go of the umbrella. At once his palms went slick with sweat as his insides tightened with instinctive apprehension Haku found strangely absurd.

"Wot y'doin', neh!?" Okesa hissed in exasperation, "Aye cun jus' pick t'lock!"

There had only been enough room for two on the motorcycle now stashed away in his tatter cloak. But the cat was growing increasingly familiar with these hills. It took her on foot almost the same amount of time to travel what they negotiated by machine. Clinging to the underside of the window with one hand Chihiro vigorously waved the cat away from the door with the other.

"Mom'll wake up the moment you open any of the downstairs doors!" Chihiro hissed back, "She's got some kinda crazy built in bugler alarm!"

Pacing back and forth, cat produced a well packed rut between the back door and the middle of the garden as she glowered up at them. Sinking over her heels she hugged her middle, lashing her bristling tail while again hissing beneath her breath.

"Aye's no birdie, kiddo! Aye ain't gonna fly up through tha' window! How's aye s'possed t'git in 'cept t'door, neh!?"

Chihiro wheeled around to grab the window with both hands as they rose again.

"I'll think of something, okay!? Just let met get us inside!"

All at once the shake in his arm spread to his entire body as exhaustion consumed him. As the world became a ghost of gray in his vision they began to sink.

"Chihiro!" Haku choked as he struggled to endure, "I cannot keep us aloft…!"

Cursing again she dragged Sengen's knife from her pocket.

The sight of the bare blade sent a flash of cold terror through Haku's heart.

She nicked the screen and hastily stowed the blade.

Haku's skin crawled as the mesh dissolved into a fizzling ribbon of salt water.

Somewhere below Okesa yowled as it poured down into the yard.

But Haku did not see her. As Chihiro ripped the window to her bedroom open he spent the last of his energy on a breath of wind that rocketed them forward. Momentum forced them through the narrow space making the umbrella close. The weight of their bodies returned with stunning swiftness as the magic abated. They fell like stones, bouncing on the mattress tucked against the wall only to come to rest in a rude of tangled limbs atop her bed. Unfortunately the bed was too small for them both. Haku spilled over the edge and landed hard on the floor as the whipping gale circled the tiny space. The errant fingers of wind tore at Satako's drawings as they raked the wall only to upsetting several small objects. But as those several something's fell from their shelves to strike him squarely in the chest Haku barely felt it. He teetered on the edge of consciousness until the caustic buzzing bulb flicked on overhead. Fearing they had woken Yuko Haku struggled to find the magic to hide only to come up empty handed.

"Are you okay?!"

It took him a moment to see Chihiro bent over him seizing handfuls of his singed jacket. The material crumbled beneath her fingers. Her eyes were incandescent with worry. The silver curtain of her hair spilled over her shoulders was in his face again. He, however, was too tired to sneeze. All that mattered was they were inside and safe for the moment. He sagged in her grip, spilling backwards against the carpet in singing relief.

"Apologies, dear one," Haku murmured faintly, "May I lie here, please? I… I do not think I can stand."

Suddenly she was looking away listening intensely to the silence only to bite her lip as her pale eyes went grim. She held her breath as if Yuko could hear even that through the very walls and floor. But as the second ticked away into minutes nothing but the sound of the snow blowing through the still open window filled Haku's ears. Then a snowball sailed through the window. It exploded against the far wall spraying them with ice. Haku's lips quirked in weary amusement as Chihiro dove beside him only to have outrage spread across her face. Tugging his tatter cloak free of his pocket he pressed it into her fingers.

"There is a rope," he explained without explaining.

Even speaking proved an effort. Frowning at it in utter confusion Chihiro stood unfolded the wad of silky smoky fabric only to hold it up making ready to shake it out. Far too late he realized what she was about to do.

"N-no!" Haku gasped as he struggled to stop her hands.

He was far too slow. As Chihiro flicked the fabric the whole collection of his personal affects dropped from thin air, falling like rain against the floor of her bedroom. That included the motorcycle he had spirited away into the shadowy folds. Haku rolled aside only to become tangled in the ruffly pink skirting that adorned the foot of her bed as a spike of adrenaline motivated his aching body just enough to flee the mud caked tires of the Honda. The floor jolted and its shocks squeaked in protest as it dropped out of nowhere to land hard. Chihiro flew to her feet, knocking back against the adjacent wall as she stared at in astonishment.

As their eyes met across the leather seat Chihiro cringed and again they listened in trepidation to the silence filling the house. By some small mercy again they heard nothing. Glancing back at each other they stared wordlessly as they waited. Haku was surprised by the amused smirk that tugged his lips as again they escaped notice. He was not sure why he was smiling because this was not humorous in the slightest. Still, he was oddly giddy and apparently his grin was catching. Chihiro fought the upturned corners of her mouth as she searched the floor and snatched up the coiled length of rice rope. This she struggled to unwind as she came to the windowsill only to squeal and duck as another snowball whizzed over her head only to spatter on the door to her room. Peering up to the sill she hushed out the open window angrily.

"Knock it off, Cinna!"

Cagily feeding the end of the rice rope over the sill Chihiro held on as the line went taut, anchoring it with the weight of her body until the cat vaulted lithely through the open window. Okesa landed without making a sound only to shrink arching her back and bristling from head to toe as she encountered the motorcycle. The filthy cat shied again, clambering away to crouch beside him with a hiss as Chihiro hauled in the rope and lurched upright to yank the window shut. Immediately the room became warmer and his breath faded from sight. Scooping up a handful of the melting slush Chihiro hurled it at the cat and missed badly. Haku cringed as the glancing bits of ice spattered everywhere. Still glaring at the cat Chihiro wound up the length of rope only to stare down at the object scattered across the floor. The anger fled her face and was replaced with bright curiosity as she bent to pick up his compass.

"Did Onsen give you all this?"

Sinking back against the rug Haku nodded wordlessly.

"What's this?"

Chihiro picked up the gourd only to blink as the water sloshed loudly.

"It's hot!"

"S'water from t'camphor tree spring," Okesa explain as if all of this was common knowledge, "S'magic, kiddo. A'ah cure all: cuts, burns, bruises. Speakin' of..."

The cat snatched the gourd from Chihiro's hands only to retreat to his side, pulling the cork with her teeth as she foisted the opening at his mouth.

"Jus' ah sip, neh kitten? It'll add ah mite o' steam back t'yer giddy-up."

Haku choked as the cat forced him to drink a mouthful. Grimacing he struggled to swallow the bitter sulfurous liquid as it ran down his chin. It burned all the way down his throat making him cough and gag. Okesa thumped his back consolingly. Wiping his mouth Haku fell still as the warmth spread from his belly, coursing with his blood through his veins until he did not feel half so weighted with frozen exhaustion. Looking up at her, his gratitude cooled as he found the cat grinning wickedly.

"Tastes like mud, neh kitten?"

Haku looked to the side sharply as Chihiro plucked something from the floor.

"What about this?"

She held out the flint iron and its jar of pitch. The cat sniffed at it before smacking him in the side of the head with a flick of her tail.

"Makes Godfire."

She blinked, reassessing the unassuming objects before offering a small pouch.

"And this?"

Again the cat snuffled loudly, lifting her chin as her ears perked with interest.

"Salt. S'good fer all kinds ah things."

Now Chihiro was looking at the cat askance.

"How do you know so much about all this stuff? I thought it was supposed to be human magic?"

The cat shrugged diffidently.

"Aye lived in lots o' _human_ places, kiddo, an' aye seen lot's o' _human_ things."

"What about this? Is this special?"

She held up the sheaf of ancient paper Haku had almost forgotten. Never once had he come to call upon it for help. He knew not of what the paper was capable. The cat regarded it with a sagely expression before she crossed her arms solemnly.

"Aye got's no clue."

Chihiro wilted in exasperation before tossing the paper onto the foot of her bed beside the gourd and his other treasures. Bending again, this time Chihiro did not ask as she laid his sword, bow, quiver, and cloak on the coverlet. But then she paused, straightening slowly with something held ever so carefully in her hands. Her face wiped smooth with awe as she stared at the opalescent face of his mask. It flashed in the light like the glinting scale that hung around her neck. Haku drew in a sharp breath and shivered as an eerie sensation climbed through the marrow of his bones as she ran her thumbs against the surface. Glancing at him sharply her face flushed bright red as she realized he was watching her. His insides tightened with confusion as she threw her eyes away from his. All at once Chihiro became strangely distant as she looked at the door. Standing awkwardly she shuffled from foot to foot as if terribly anxious.

"Look, my mom will seriously freak if she finds you in my room."

Okesa pulled a moue and tossed her head at the motorcycle.

"An' she's nae gonna _freak_ 'bout t'Honda?"

Chihiro glared at the cat.

"Will you just help me get him into the guest room?"

On her feet in a blink Okesa displaced Chihiro from the foot of the bed in a move so swift it set her stumbling backwards to a rude seat in the chair at her desk. Furling open the fabric Okesa whirled his cloak over the motorcycle, making the mechanical beast fade and then disappear. Stunned, Chihiro looked on in silence clutching his mask as the cat wadded the fabric in the crook of her arm and shoved his possession back into the mysterious folds. Okesa came up short as if finding something missing. Craning her neck she searched the floor then appealed to him where he lay on the carpet.

"Where's t'glasses an' yer finny clicky watch thingy?"

"Destroyed."

Haku breathed the word soberly. The loss was great indeed. The stop watch and glasses were immensely powerful. He would miss their benefit sorely. All the same, the bespelled objects were nothing compared to their lives. The cat made an unhappy moue as she searched the floor only to squat and peer under the bed's pink ruffle.

"An' t'camphor leaves an' sticks?"

Haku gritted his teeth as he was forced to recall Aki's thievery.

"Stolen."

Okesa tossed her hip to the side as her black velvet ears swiveled incredulously.

"Who'd wanna steal ah bunch o' twigs, neh!"

Chihiro was pointing.

"You forgot something."

As the cat plucked the magazine from the floor Haku found himself struggling upright reaching for it as every ounce of his blood flooded his face. As he tried to snatch it from her fingers the cat danced aside. The wicked grin was back in her ruby eyes as she held it out of his reach, taunting him.

"Y'keepin' dirty mags up yer sleeve, kitten?"

The cat hissed as Chihiro snatched it out of her fingers. It fell open to the well worn pages that carried the article about her and Onsen, betraying the hundreds of times he had opened to the very place within its folds. Again her face went pale and inscrutable as she tucked his mask into the corner of her arm so she could look at the pages.

"Why'd you keep this?"

Her bewilderment made him even more uncomfortable. He struggled upright to sit on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with his crumbling jacket. At once feeling extremely exposed Haku looked away. His voice sounded so very small in the silence.

"For the longest while it was all I had of you and our home."

Looking up sharply Haku watched as Chihiro took the cloak from Okesa, carefully adding his mask and magazine before neatly folding the whispering fabric. This she returned to his hands before sweeping the hair from his face. Lifting his chin he caught the bare expression of wordless affection she poured down upon him. Relief flooded his chest inspiring a painful prick in his throat. Haku leaned into her touch as he found her hands were as gentle as her voice.

"Do you think you can stand now?"

It would be useless to lie. He was far too heavy and she would undoubtedly try to catch him. They both would end up on the floor should he stand and fail.

"No."

At once Chihiro was appealing to the cat.

"Get his other arm, Cinna?"

Without hesitation Okesa fitted herself under his opposite shoulder and with their mingled strength they hoisted him.

"Apologies…"

Haku muttered as he dropped his head in embarrassment.

"S'okay, kitten," Okesa returned softly, "We's just glad yeh's lettin' us help."

Blinking rapidly to forestall the spreading burn blurring his eyes, let them carry him to the doorway of the cavernous bathroom he had used once before. Bracing himself in the frame he reached after Chihiro unconsciously as she left him pull open the next doorway in the hall. Okesa batted at his hand throwing him a surly moue.

"She's gonna come back, neh?"

Ignoring the cat and Haku struggled with the panic her absence inspired. Too much had happened in a very short amount of time. He found it difficult not to jump and flinch at every tiny sound. His heart was racing as he craned his neck to look after her. But all he caught was a glimpse of tasteful blue wallpaper and the scent of clean linen as it breathed out of the room on a rolling gust of heat as the furnace kicked on in the distant bowels of the house. Haku's knees when weak with respite as Chihiro emerged. As she did she held out his green silk kimono and an indigo belt that was undoubtedly Onsen's. These Haku accepted in grateful astonishment.

"Though you might like something familiar. I'm gonna go clean up in the little bathroom then I'll get my mom off the couch. Need anything from downstairs?"

At once that cat threw herself at Chihiro, leaving Haku to list against the door frame. Wrapping her arms around her waist as Okesa sank to her knees appealing with wide round eyes ringed in red.

"Somethin' t'eat, neh! Aye's _starvin'!_ "

Chihiro snorted, fighting a smile as her pale eyes flashed like mirrors in the gloom.

"Want anything Kohaku?"

His blood sang in his swelling heart as she used his true name. It was all he could do to shake his head. She did not seem convinced and a deep line formed between her brows as she studied his face. Her concern was incongruous with her frightful state. She looked as if she had been dipped in fire then rolled in mud. Indeed; she had.

"You sure?"

His voice escaped him in a toadish croak.

"Something warm to drink?"

She nodded, seeming pleased that he had asked for something. Again the wild urge to catch hold of her coat and drag her back to him set him fidgeting. She crept down the hall with a caution that seemed unnecessary only to disappear around the corner. As he lost sight of her a spike of dread struck him as if set by a hammer deep in the pit of his chest. But then again, Chihiro had been ripped from his grip by an ogre this night. Grinding his teeth he went sick and faint with the memory of the arrow standing up from her shoulder. With mercilessly he was forced to see again in his minds eye as her blood ran in rivulets from her fingertips!

All at once he found it difficult to breathe as it became painfully obvious to Haku that what had happened in the oni rock canyon still had yet to sink in. He clung to the door frame as wind still surged in his veins. In its wake apprehension circled his heart with thickening clouds. They left him cold as they eclipsed the sun of his calm. And he was shaking again; shaking so hard his teeth chattered! Then Okesa hoisted him onto her shoulder. Carrying him like a child she guided him into the bathroom. With a hooked flick of her foot she shut the door with her foot. Sitting him on a stool in the middle of the room she took him by the arms and shook him firmly. He jolted, dropping his things and flinching in her iron grip as his arm seized with a blinding flash of pain. Then naught but Okesa's ruby red eyes filled his vision. Her slitted pupils dilate in the dark until they reflected the dim light like endless black opals.

"Breathe, kitten! In 'n' out, neh! _Breathe!_ "

He dragged in breath after breath as he appealed in wordless terror for explanation. The cat opened her arms to him. Haku hugged her as if his life depended on it as terror rattled in every inch of his body. All the while she soothed him by purring loudly, explaining in her casual way as if all this was perfectly normal.

"Yeh's havin' ah panic attack, neh?"

He found no solace in her words. They meant nothing to him.

"What is a panic attack!?" Haku choked hoarsely.

She was hugging his head now, rubbing her cheeks back and forth across his head.

"S'ah human thing. Yer body's fet up an' it don' know how t'cope."

He clung to her in stunned silence before spitting the words most crossly.

"I do _not_ understand!"

Okesa tossed her head as her purring intensified.

" _Tch!_ Wots not t'understand 'bout gettin' yer ass handed t'yeh by a lousy human? Wot's not t'understand 'bout scramblin' 'round in ah rain o' rocks while a _big old_ oni tries t'kill yeh?"

Haku found himself frowning as pride kindled in his gut.

"That was no ordinary human, Okesa."

She uttered a short humorless laugh as she turned her cheek to reveal the bruise the fujo's bow had painted across the delicate curve of her jaw.

"Ain't aye know it!"

Worry stirred and scrambled inside his chest as he noticed the mark for the first time. Lifting his hand to touch it his face contracted in lines so deep they hurt. She batted his hands away with her claws as her eats folded and her tail lashed about.

"Hurry up an' git yer shower, neh? Aye wants t' git t'mud outta my fur."


	22. Chapter 22

**CHIHIRO**

She had to run the shower for a good five minutes after she was done just to get all the mud out of the tub. Her throat didn't feel like it was lined with sandpaper anymore either but then again she'd gargled for most of her shower. Running her hand back and forth across the fogged mirror Sen inspected her make-shift turban. The towel was a perfect excuse to hide her pale hair. Chewing her lip she hoped it was dark enough that her mom wouldn't notice her eyes. Scooting the door to the little bathroom open the steam escaped in a massive billowing cloud as she peered down the dark hall, snooping as she took in the sounds and sights the house.

The sound of a shower was running in the big bathroom.

Light was filtering from under the guest room slider.

Heat was blasting through the ventilation grates until it was almost summery.

Distantly she could hear her dad sawing logs.

But the domestic tranquility was a thin veneer that hid an entirely different world.

It was weird. She should've been freaked out. She should've been wiped out and dead on her feet. But she wasn't. Maybe it was because she hadn't processed any of it and was still running on adrenaline. She didn't want to process any of it actually and that was fine. She was getting really good at repressing and compartmentalizing things so she could just keep moving forward. Right now all that mattered was everyone was alive and okay.

Well, as okay as they could be.

Her insides went all kinds of cold and tight as she glanced again toward the big bathroom. Even though Suzume had fixed his arm Kohaku looked bad. Hopefully sleep in a real bed would fix some of that, because he looked bad enough to make her consider bringing him back to Onsen. But the house might not let him go again after seeing him. Sen was just figuring out that Onsen had a major crush on Kohaku; so did the lantern. It was seriously cute. Half smiling, she shoved her feet back into her Hello Kitty slippers and tugged the edge of her night shirt down. The pale pink and yellow Sailor Moon pajama's dated back to high school. She couldn't decide whether to die of embarrassment or be super creeped out by the fact that her mom had all of her old clothes folded up and put away in her room like if she'd never left. At least it had long sleeves. She was going to have to come up with a plausible lie to explain the new star shaped scar just below her right collar bone.

Back to chewing her lip, Sen flinched as she bit through the thin skin.

All at once the taste of blood was in her mouth.

It triggered all kinds of things she did not want to see.

Lurching back to the sink she spit and spit, nearly throwing up. Rinsing her mouth over and over with mouthwash she choked on some. It burned like minty acid, forcing her to cling to the edge of the basin as she coughed and gagged. Dragging in a ragged breath, she scrambled to catch and re-do her towel as it fell. Unfortunately she couldn't because her hands were shaking violently. Letting the towel fall she seized the scale at the end of the purple cord around her neck. Clasping it tightly in her hands she forced herself to take one slow breath after the other. Because she could handle this; she had to be able to handle this; all she had now was this.

All too keenly she felt the weight of the tiny wooden box in her pocket.

It could've weight hundreds of thousands of pounds in that moment.

After seconds that felt like hours her hands stopped shaking and she fixed her hair. Numbly she shuffled out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Picking up the remote control she switched off the TV. The living room went completely dark save for the light filtering through the curtains from the garden. Distantly she could still hear her dad snoring. Coming over she sat down beside her mom and watched her sleep. Obviously waiting up for them, she was still wearing her good clothes and make-up from earlier. Her white pants weren't even wrinkled. But some of her lipstick had rubbed off on one of the pillows making her mouth look less like a wet piece of pink candy. But for once her mom's face wasn't tight with the fake smile she wore constantly. Slack with sleep she actually looked relaxed, like a real person and not some Martha Stewart robot.

She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she couldn't remember the last time she hugged her mom. Maybe it was because she was seriously beat and was getting a little emotional. All the same, she wiggled her feet out of her slippers so she could tuck up her knees. Like she was a kid again, Sen curled up beside her mom. Then she cuddled into Yuko for the briefest moment and let out the breath she had been holding. The moment she got comfortable her mom jolted awake, jostling her aside as she sat up abruptly revealing her hair had gone completely flat on one side. As if she had some of hair spider sense Yuko deftly fluffed the flattened area while searched the living room with a frown as if afraid people had seen her flat hair. Blinking blearily Yuko finally wheeled her attention around to her. Her frown intensified and her brows drew together as she looked her up and down.

"Chihiro? What are you wearing?"

Sen sighed gustily. Suddenly seriously tired she shoved her feet back into her slippers and stood gesturing toward the stairs.

"Time for bed mom."

Yuko was still staring around the living room as if confused by how she got there.

"Where's Kou? Oh, dear. He must think I'm terribly rude."

Without missing a beat Sen lied through her teeth.

"Don't worry; I got him all settle into the guest room. He's been driving all day so he's super tired. He asked me to thank you for making him feel so welcome and bringing him to see the shrine."

Yuko smiled as she stood stiffly and stretched. Stunned, Sen just stopped as her mom actually smiled; not that fake falsey happy homemaker smile, but a real smile that reached her eyes making them go all warm and soft.

"I'll have you know your father just adores Kou. He didn't stop talking about him the whole way home. But you know how your father is. He always wanted a boy. All he wants you to do is get married so he can finally have a son."

Sen winced at that, brought to a standstill. Her whole like that'd never been much of a mystery. What dad didn't want a son? All the same, the way Yuko said it made it sound like having a daughter hadn't been enough. Oblivious to the sting of her words, Yuko went about straightening the couch cushions prattling on half-asleep.

"Your father says Kou seems like an honest upstanding young man. He's so different from Karou. Goodness, they both have K names, don't they? Not to speak ill of Karou, because mind you your father really did like that fellow, but what was it he called him? Slippery. That's it. Karou was slippery."

Chihiro might've been upset by the things that Yuko was saying.

Sen wasn't.

Quietly, patiently, she endured her mom's sleepy ramblings.

The words were miles and miles away, so far they couldn't touch her.

Distantly Sen watched her mom pause only to frown again.

As the bell in her heart hummed solemnly Sen blinked.

In a flash of intuition she realized Yuko wasn't really talking about her husband.

She was talking about herself.

Yuko blinked rapidly, straightening as if finally coming fully awake.

"I wish your father could've met Hidé. It's such a shame… Such a terrible shame…"

In that moment her mom seemed to look at her instead of through her.

For a moment so brief Yuko actually seemed to see her.

"You know, I wanted to apologize, sweet pea. I shouldn't've come after you in the kitchen. You just surprised me with a lot of changes recently. It caught me off guard."

This wasn't Yuko's usual push me pull me hot and cold. Her mom was actually _trying_. And the terrible thing was Sen didn't know what to do or say in response to that. It was too much too late. There was nothing she could do or say that could reach across the invisible divide that stretched between them. And the reaction was so automatic she didn't realize she'd spoken until the words fell from her lips.

"I'm sorry too, mom."

Yuko waved off her apology, flashing that thin smile.

She smoothed her sweater even though it wasn't wrinkled.

With a punch of sorrow Sen watched the moment of reckoning pass unfulfilled.

Then it was gone.

And that was for the best.

"Things have been a bit topsy-turvy for us recently, haven't they?"

Sen almost laughed at that. But it was a bitter humorless laugh.

Yuko's statement was such a gross _understatement_ it was almost cruel.

Still utterly clueless, her mom continued blithely.

"By the way, where's Michio? I was surprised when she didn't come with you."

The floor seemed to lurch beneath Sen's feet at the mention of Michio's name.

At once her mouth went dry.

She looked away and swallowed with difficulty as her throat constricted painfully.

She forced herself to speak but this time couldn't bring herself to lie.

"We had a fight."

Yuko sighed gustily and waved this off as well.

"Again? You two always seem to be fighting. I'm sure you'll make up soon."

All at once the bell was humming in her heart.

A painfully familiar light seemed to dig in the back of her eyes.

Rigid as a board, again Sen endured the increasingly familiar flash of intuition.

For a second she caught a brief glimpse of something she'd seen in Sengen's mirror.

Michio: sitting with her back turned toward her as if waiting.

The vision left her bewildered and distracted with strange fragmented knowledge.

Sen startled as Yuko planted a quick dry kiss in the air in front of her forehead.

Stunned, she watched her mom shuffle for the stairs.

"Good night, dear."

Sen stammered the words hoarsely.

"N-night, mom…"

Lifting her eyes to watch her mom disappear into the second story, Sen stared after her for a long moment just to make sure. Then she shook herself and turned for the kitchen, catalyzed by the brief stab of prescience her mom had unknowingly conjured. Tearing the towel from her hair with one hand, she shoved the other in her pocket to command the wooden box hidden then.

"Bath tile."

The moment it was in her hand she slapped it to the pantry door and hauled it open. Magic gnawed every inch of her skin as she strode across the threshold. Momentarily giddy, she shuddered convulsively. She came up short in the middle of Onsen's dark kitchen. Sen's eyes had already adjusted to the dark so she saw as Kuromi stood from where she had been seated on stairs leading up to the great room. Barefoot and wearing her usual black and yellow striped school uniform. Her long glossy hair fell in an ebony curtain around her perfect white face. Blinking and blinking and blinking some more, Sen's mouth fell open. Premonition told her someone was waiting for her.

But the spider was not who she had been expecting to find.

Neither was Sen expecting to hear what the spider said next.

"I overhead what you said to Kohaku-san; I know that you have seen his death."

The quiet grave words bounced off Sen's forehead one after the other.

The last one knocked her backwards into the wall.

Stunned and breathless, she could only cling to the doorframe.

Kuromi continued in a quick persuasive whisper.

All the while she crept closer, never taking away her intense ruby gaze.

"I will make a deal with you, Lady Sen. I swear I will watch over and protect Kohaku-san with my life. All I ask it that you allow me to follow wherever you and he go."

It look her a long moment to find her voice.

The taste of blood was back in her mouth as she was on the verge of being sick.

"Why!?" Sen choked while staring askance at the spider, "What do you get!?"

Here Kuromi's face grew guarded.

"I already told you; he and I have a bargain to keep. But he does not trust me and so I cannot trust him. Therefore I am forced to seek your help."

Sen blinked as she remembered the pact Kuromi revealed in the hallway.

The spider wanted to be human.

For some reason she thought Kohaku could show her how.

He, however, apparently didn't want to have anything to do with Kuromi.

Regardless of what and why, the spider had helped her and Suzume.

Kuromi saved them from the boulders.

Aki would've torn her to pieces if the spider hadn't stopped her.

Kuromi was crazy strong; she was fast and smart too.

Sen ground her teeth as she remembered the sound of Kohaku's scream of pain when the rock struck him in the canyon earlier. Sen hadn't been fast enough to stop that stone. What if it had been an arrow or worse? Suddenly sick with the memory of past pain she gripped her injured shoulder as the scar there continued to ache. Reluctantly Sen was forced to admit that they could use all the help they could get. What was it Kuromi said? My enemy's enemy is no enemy of mine. Finally, after what felt like ages, she whispered her agreement.

"I promise."

Kuromi folded forward onto her hands, bowing her head to the floor.

Embarrassed, Sen waved vigorously at the back door.

"Just go already! There is a house on the other side of that portal. Outside there is an old tree and an even older road. Follow it to a tunnel. Wait for us on the other side."

Sen recoiled as she found Kuromi standing on the other side of the portal.

Wow, she _was_ crazy fast!

The spiders bloody red eyes glittered dangerously making Sen seriously nervous.

"I will do more than wait."

Kuromi promised grimly.

"I will see to it that no train passes through without your consent."

* * *

 **LIN**

Fumiko returned her yukata clean and pressed.

Lin, however, refused to let the spider help her dress.

She refused all the perfumes, combs, and pretty things the spider offered.

Pleased with her bedraggled state Lin followed in the wake of the soldier spider.

Shimizu finally came to claim her. The tall scarred God woman shoved her down the long listing corridor and through another windy passage into the most elaborate car yet. Unlike the other cars there was no side passage here but instead a narrow waiting room for the chamber beyond. Plush red velvet, burnished wood, polished brass, and frosted glass adorned the double sided door. Light spilled through the opaque glass and the faint sweet smell of incense drifted through the cracks in the ceiling. A score of seasoned soldier spiders stood to either side of the entry. Their armor and their faces bore numerous battle scars and they searched her with suspicious glittering eyes. Unconsciously Lin placed her only hand on her waistband, reassuring herself that the knife was still there. Then she glared over her shoulder, jerking away as Fumiko flustered her many hands over the tangles in her hair.

"I wish you would have at least let me brush your hair."

Lin fought a satisfied smirk that faded as Shimizu threw a dour frown back at her. The solder spider turned to look her up and down with a black expression her armor clinked and clacked as she effortlessly rode the swaying floor.

"You look like a drowned rat."

Lin glared at her nastily.

"I'm not covered in blood. That's good enough."

The spider bared her needle sharp teeth in response.

"Mother wanted you presentable. Fumi-chan will get punished because you're too stupid to realize she's trying to help you."

Lin snorted humorlessly, not at all intimidated.

"First you want to kill me. Now you want to help me. Make up your mind, spider."

Shimizu wrung her silk lance in her many hands as her eyes turned murderous.

" _Shitamachi scum!_ You think you're so much better than us! I'd kill you all if I could!"

As the other spiders began to shuffle and mutter in angry agreement Fumiko interjected herself between them. Cool and calm, she put one of her pale hands on Shimizu's breast plate and pushed, proving she wasn't as fragile as she looked. Shimizu lurched back against the wall, making another soldier scramble aside. Fumiko followed to pin her there, frowning with frosty disapproval that was palpable. Startled, Shimizu blinked rapidly and gaped at her sister as if equally surprised by her strength.

"Lin-san is not from Shitamachi, Shimizu. Save your hate for one who deserves it."

Thoroughly admonished, Shimizu looked at anything but Fumiko as her sister released her. Turning her back on her, Fumiko quelled the other spiders in the waiting room with a heavy stare before stepped up to the door and knocking. As they waited Lin crept closer and whispered question at the attendant spider's back.

"Why are they so afraid of you?"

Fumiko didn't turn but she answered quietly.

"They are not afraid of me. I am honored by their respect."

Lin blinked in utter confusion only to recoil a step as the doors jerked open. Beyond the threshold the entire interior of the car was occupied by a massive chamber just as luxurious as the waiting room. Plush couches and tables were bolted to the carpeted floor, illuminated from above by brass chandeliers festooned with orb after orb of pale mushi that scrambled back and forth in the swaying train's movement. Curling lines of incense thickened the air with cloying fragrance that could do nothing to hide the stink of the bat.

Although she had been bathed in soaps and perfumes so strong they stung Lin's eyes, although she wore hideously gaudy sumptuous silk robes and a brand new combed wig, Bah Fuh still reeked of filth. Seated on a low backless couch, bent over a massive platter that offered a fried fish as big as she was, the blind bat tore at the pale succulent flesh with her bare claws. Food smeared her fat face and the front of her clothes with wet sticky blots of oil and fat that ran down her rubbery wings in rivulets. Pausing in the midst of her feast the bat's enormous ears trembled as she snuffled the air with spastically before licking the wet pink folds of her lobed nose with the long thin blade of her food flecked tongue. As she spoke her face split into a hideous grin.

"I can still smell your blood, weasel woman. You stink of machinations."

As Lin recoiled from the disgusting sight Shimizu caught her from behind.

The door shut behind them as the soldier shoved her forward.

Once inside, Fumiko stood in front of the waiting silently.

As a baby cooed Lin's insides seized with terrified elation.

Her attention shot past the still leering bat.

Shimizu caught her, holding her back.

Otherwise Lin would have run to where Shurui sat bent over a desk.

Absently bouncing Makoto on her knee with a spare pair of her hands, the spider riffled through pages of an accounting ledge with the others, making calculations numerous with an abacus and ink brush. A pair of thick lensed glasses perched on the point of her perfect nose. These she pushed up the bridge again and again with another of her hands as a deepening frown tightened her face with an all too familiar expression of despair. Shurui sighed gustily, oblivious to their presence as she paged through the ledger, counted again and again on the abacus, making notes in red ink with another of her fleet of hands. The last went to pinch the side of her temple as her concentration resulted in a headache.

Lin's insides scrambled in extreme discomfort as she recognized the spider's expression.

She'd worn that exact same look as she did Onsen's accounting.

Whatever the numbers meant, they were obviously not adding up.

Again Lin's attention jerked past Shurui as another baby sighed. At the farthest end of the car Kiri in the middle of a plump futon propped on a raised dais. Like the bat she'd been bathed and was dressed in a soft white robe. There was a tray of delicious looking food in front of her but it remained untouched. Her short hair hung around her face in an obscuring curtain but it did nothing to hide the hollow haunted expression that transformed her face. Gritting her teeth, Lin recoiled from the shadow as it seemed to hang over her like a black cloud because Kiri stank of death. In her lap she held Kokoro with her listless arms. But as the kit trilled and squalled the cursed human cringed and bowed her head as her shoulders shook. Outrage and sorrow set Lin grinding her teeth in despair at the sight because it was beyond cruelty.

Then her eyes slid past Kiri toward a blinding flash of warmth.

Reverently draped on a stand behind the futon was the gold kimono.

Just looking at it made her insides crawl and her eyes hurt.

"M-Mother?" Shimizu began tremulously, "I have brought the weasel woman."

Shurui's head shot up in furious surprise. At once they spiders bowed, forcing Lin to bow as well. Papers folded and rustled loudly as books slapped shut and her chair scraped the floor. At once Shurui was standing and pacing. Watching from the corner of her eyes Lin followed the queen spider as she bounced Makoto in the woven thicket of her arms all the while glowering at Fumiko. Her spectacles were still perched on the tip of her nose, making her look more ridiculous than imposing.

"Because you deliberately disobeyed me we will have to begin rationing rice."

Fumiko dropped to her knees and bowed over her hands.

"We are accustomed to infrequent and meager meals, Shurui-san."

Lin blinked in surprise.

Fumiko's reply was completely polite but somehow it came off lippy.

She watched as Shimizu threw a cautioning sideways glance at her sister.

Fumiko ignored it.

She continued to bow demurely as the spider queen filled the entire car with her wrath.

"We cannot feed the ones you brought from Shitamachi _and_ purchase coal! We will barely make it to the Clock Tower Town as is! How are we to make our way to Heian Kyo without coal! Would you have us _walk_ through sunlight!?"

Lin's insides surged with shock so strong she lost her sight for a brief flash. As once she was trembling with the knowledge of their next destination. Panic and elation vibrated in her blood as she doubted for a moment what she heard. But there was no other possibility. Suddenly so many things made sense; the smell of the dry mountains outside; the train; the upcoming stop for coal. They were traveling on the Nakasendo!

"What would Garuda-san think of me if I chose to abandoned my sisters?"

Lin was ripped from her thoughts as Fumiko pronouncement rang with clear intent. Stunned by her open admonishment, Lin looked up as Shurui stopped dead in her tracks. Just as quickly Lin was forced to lower her eyes as the spider's gaze turned deadly. As she spoke next the spider queen's voice was razor sharp.

"You lead them from one fight to another, little fool. It is no safer here than in Shitamachi."

Fumiko bowed lower until her forehead was pressed to the floor.

"Forgive me for disagreeing, _Mother_ ," she spat the word with unveiled contempt, "Better that we starve or burn in the sun and die free than rot in the dark and live as slaves or whores."

It was the truth. Otherwise Fumiko wouldn't have been able to speak it aloud.

As a dangerous silence fell Shimizu shifted nervously. Lin watched as discord warred in the soldier's eyes. But as Shurui took a step toward Fumiko Shimizu's face broke with panic. She leapt from the floor and caught her sister by the hair. Lin scrambled aside as Fumiko shrieked in surprise, struggling as the soldier spider kicked the door open and dragged her from the room, throwing her out into the waiting area before shouting after her furiously.

" _Bitch!_ How dare you speak to mother with such disrespect?!"

Slamming the doors in her face Shimizu turned and fell to one knee bowing to Shurui. Startled by the shouting at once the kits began wailing. Shimizu was forced to shout over them to be heard.

"Forgive me for acting out of turn, mother!"

At once concerned with nothing more than soothing Makoto Shurui waved her away.

"Get out! I have nothing more to say to you!"

Shimizu bowed and rose swiftly turning for the door. Still sprawled on the floor, Lin caught the cryptic glance the soldier cast in her direction from the hidden depths of her helmet. They regarded each other for a brief silver of a second before the doors closed behind her.

"Gah!" Bah Fuh wailed in agony, "Shurui! Shurui, make them _stop!_ "

Lin jolted as a shadow fell over her.

Looking up she found Shurui standing over her offering a loudly squalling Makoto.

"See to the boy," she commanded frostily.

Forgetting everything else Lin clambering upright and snatched her son into the crook up her up-tucked knees. Yanking open the front of her yukata, and bracing her back against one of the couches, she brought the kit to breast so he could nurse. At once he silenced and greedily set to work on his meal. Her insides thrilled as she realized he was larger than she remembered. Gritting her teeth again sorrow and elation, Lin patted and smoothed his spider silk swaddled body as she was forced to listen to her daughter cry unrelentingly. All the while the bath flailed and screeched, knocking over her platter and spilling the half-eaten carcass across the floor as she writhed. Vindicated by the bat's suffering, Lin glanced toward Kiri and found the human half-heartedly rocking the girl.

Impatiently tapping her foot she watched Lin nurse as her hands twitched and flustered, obviously wanting the boy back. But Shurui couldn't even be bothered to look at the girl. Lin's blood ran cold as it terrified her how little the spider cared for Kokoro. The moment Makoto released her breast with a sigh Shurui snatched him from her hands. It took every ounce of Lin's self-control not to stand and take him back. Shurui shoved her toward Kiri with one of her feet.

"See if you can make the human eat."

At once fighting her way through a blinding strike of bloodlust, Lin clambered away from the spider as Shurui whirled away laughing in delight, cooing and rattling a constellation of toys in her many hands to delight Makoto. But Lin's rage cooled as she climbed up onto the futon beside Kiri. Pale and stricken, the human held out the weakly crying baby as if she couldn't bear to touch her a moment more. Turning her back to Shurui Lin collected the girl from Kiri's hands and secreted her away into the front of her yukata. The bat uttered a gasp of relief as Kokoro silenced and began to nurse on her other breast. Shaking with relief as the girl ate her fill, furtively glancing at the distracted spider again and again, Lin dragged the tray of food over and tried to force the bowl of rice into the human's hand.

"Eat this."

Instead Kiri pushed the bowl away and folded forward into Lin's lap. Startled, Lin was forced to put down the rice so she could tend to the grieved human. Unfortunately for them both she had never been good at being gentle and she awkwardly patted Kiri's back with her only hand. She was forced to snatch back her hand to adjust Kokoro as her waistband slipped. Much to her chagrin the point of the knife has poked through the fabric of her yukata and was pressed against the wall of her stomach. Adjusting it proved difficult as it disturbed the girl. Kokoro burbled in protest, rooting for her breast as she lost her hold. Shushing her hurriedly and returning her to her meal, Lin hissed at Kiri beneath her breath.

"Girl, I need you to eat."

Much to her exasperation Kiri shook her head in refusal. Harshly Lin growled her next words hoping the names would motivate her.

"Think of Amano and Kai!"

Kiri flinched as again a shadow fell over them. Terror thrilled up into Lin's throat making her bend over Kiri as if to hide her and Kokoro. Appearing at their bedside Shurui pulled an annoyed moue as she regarded the untouched rice bowl.

"I told you to make her eat. I need the human to live."

Kiri stirred at the sound of the spider's voice. Sitting up with difficulty the human's pale eyes burned with hate as she glowered at Shurui only to point back at the gold kimono.

"I don't want to live. And neither does he."

Shurui's face wiped with shock as she glancing between Kiri and the eerie garment.

"You hear him?!"  
"Yeah," Kiri breathed miserably as she bowed her head into her hands, "He's in here."

"Ha, ha!" Bah Fuh crowed triumphantly, "I told you she would become his vessel!"

Glaring in disgust at the filthy creature Shurui called for one of her daughters.

"Yaeko!"

A different soldier spider slipped into the room only to bow as Shimizu had.

"Yes, mother?"

"Take Bah Fuh to the bathing car."

The bat seemed shocked.

"W-what?!"

Here the guard grabbed a handful of her robe, dragging the bat along at an arm's length.

"You heard, mother. Come along."

"I don't want a bath!"

Bah Fuh's resistance was worthless, so were her appeals to the queen spider.

"Shurui! Where are you Shurui?!"

The door slammed shut on her protests. Once the bat was gone Shurui sank onto the futon edge as the fear in her face seemed to punch her in the gut. Lin scrambled away carrying Kokoro with her. The girl was still eating and Lin was not about to do anything to interrupt her meal. She was much smaller than Makoto and that made her insides writhe and twist with fear. Sliding off the edge of the dais, Lin watched in dismay over the lip of the futon as the spider shifted Makoto to the side. As she did Shurui gazed longingly at the gold fabric the emotion transformed her, turning her brittle and uncertain.

"Does he remember me?"

Kiri nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah. He's starting to remember a lot of things."

Whirling toward the garment Shurui bowed low and reverent.

"Garuda-sama!" She cried aloud like a breathless devotee, "I have finished what you began! I have crushed Shitamachi with the Wheel of Yamanote!"

Kiri's face drew into lines as she continued to hold her head as if it hurt.

"He says he's sorry to hear this."

Shurui's head jerked up showing her absolute shock. It took her a moment to speak.

"But the retribution you sought has finally been given, Garuda-sama! The city that defied your will and sought to destroy you is being torn apart by our children!"

Kiri's face went blank as she seemed to be listening carefully.

"He wants to know if they kill because they are righteous or if they kill to satisfy hatred?"

Dismayed, Shurui looked between the human and the lustrous robe in utter confusion.

In a voice so small Lin barely heard it, Shurui breathed the truth.

"I… I do not understand!"

Kiri's eyes went sharp as she stared askance at the spider.

As if rallying at the sight of her distress the human continued to relay the God's words.

"He says he was wrong to turn God against God."

Here Shurui struck the bed with her spare hands making it jolt. Makoto squealed and laughed as the spider jostled him even further to the side so she could reach toward the kimono all the while arguing resolutely.

"No! No, that's not true, Garuda-sama! Shitamachi was a sickness that had to be purged! Gods who will not change cannot change! That is what you said!"

Kiri was offering word for word now, silencing Shurui as she spoke for Garuda.

"I ask again: do they kill because they are righteous or do they kill to satisfy hatred? Who are we to judge for others what can and cannot be done? I am not special. I am not wiser. I am just another being lost in this world of worlds. I thought myself more and I have paid the price for my arrogance. I say again, Shurui: I was wrong."

Pale and shaking, Shurui's eyes blazed with passion.

"Who put this doubt in you, Garuda-sama?! Was it Kubi?!"

The spider spat the word with hate so strong it twisted her face.

Kiri gasped, blinking rapidly as she caught her head again as if it hurt.

"What is he saying!?" Shurui demanded, "Tell me what he is saying!"

As the spider caught the human by the front of her robe and dragged her across the bed Lin flew to her feet. But even as she considered reaching for Umi's knife terror rooted her in place. The spider held her son. She held her daughter. How could protect the human and not bring harm to her kits!? Lin's hear lurched into her throat on a surge of panic as Shurui hauled Kiri into thin air, dangling here there with her many hands as she gave her a vicious shake. Finally the human managed to speak.

"He's upset and not making sense!" Kiri gasped, "He wants to see her!"

Shurui dropped the human, recoiling as fury transformed her face into a mask of hate.

Here she whirled and appealed to the fabric incredulously.

"But Kubi betrayed you, Garuda-sama!"

"No," Kiri gasped as she cringed at Shurui's feet, "He says she saved him from himself."

Shurui shook as if struck physically by the words.

Then she shook her head in silent denial.

"None of this matters now! It's done! Shitamachi is finished! I only want you! You are all I have ever wanted, Garuda-sama!"

Shrinking from the soul trapped in the golden threads she tried to flee the words, she began pacing across the listing floor as the train whistle blasted distantly. Moving as if blinded she knocked into the furniture, tearing at her carefully coiffed hair, disarranging her papers as she rocked Makoto in her arms, shushing and soothing him even though he wasn't crying.

"I will bring you to a new and wonderful home! I will give you a new life!"

Repeating word for word, Kiri relayed the cold refusal of the trapped soul.

"You have finished nothing, Shurui. You have begun again a vicious cycle in which he wants no part. Garuda doesn't want you. He wants to fade and forget this life and all the terrible mistakes he's made. He wants to be reborn so that he can have a chance to redeem himself."

Hearing all this Shurui's face went crazed with wild emotions. Baring needled teeth she grabbed the edge of the futon and hurled it aside. Lin scrambled out of the way as it skittered across the floor nearly smashing her legs. Kiri rode the bed in a huddled ball, almost thrown off as it struck the far wall. Grabbing the human by the sleeve Lin hauled her off the bed as the spider ripped up more furniture, smashing it to pieces as she hurled it blindly. Forcing Kiri to her feet Lin dragged her out of the path of damage. Flying splinters bounced off her back as she shielded the human and her daughter. Kokoro squealed and protested loudly as she was jostled about. Holding her close and anxiously glancing over her shoulder anticipating more violence Lin watched Shurui tower huge in the truth of her beetle-black skin as rage turned her monstrous.

Horror surged in her chest threatening to break ribs as she lost sight of Makoto.

Sick with fear her ears rang and her sight grayed.

The unsteady floor pitched her off balance as Lin turned toward the sound instinctively.

But Kiri caught her, anchoring her with the full weight of her body.

Then train car lurched again as Shurui threw herself at the gold garment.

Seizing it in hand after hand after hand, her talons pierced the thin silk.

She yanked it down, holding it as if ready to rip it apart.

As she did Shurui screeched at the top of her lungs.

" _You cannot abandon me! I won't let you!"_

Suddenly realizing what she was about to do Shurui jolted back and dropped the garment.

As it fell in a golden curtain of pooling silk she fell to her knees with it.

Makoto replaced Shurui's wail with his and Kokoro added her voice to her brothers.

As the kits screamed in terror Lin scrambled uselessly, grinding her teeth in agony.

But Kiri held onto her like a vice, holding her back as they fought to catch their breath.

Watching the spider suffer again the human's eyes burned with resolve.

Somehow Kiri found her voice.

And she used it like a weapon, turning the edge at Shurui once more.

"He pities you but he'll never love you."

The spider flinched from the words, bending and gritting her vicious teeth.

Here Shurui gathered Makoto close even as he continued to scream.

Then she rasped in a hoarse hiss Lin barely heard.

"He will love me, human! I will raise him to love me!"

Lin shoved Kiri behind her as the shadows surged. The doors to the chamber ripped open, ripping from their hinges as they hit the walls. The resounding boom echoed in her chest like the strike of a drum, knocking her backwards onto the edge of the futon. Sitting down hard, Lin held Kokoro tightly as she squalled inside the front of her yukata. But as Lin forced her only hand to scramble for Umi's knife, as the urge to fight screamed inside her ears and throbbed in her blood, it took Lin a moment to realize the car was empty. Papers blew about on the wind invading through the iron shutters, scattering in the air like frightened birds as broken furniture skittered across the plush rug as if trying to escape more violence. All the while the metal wheels beneath them continued their never-ending idle chatter.

 _Clickity-clack. Clickity-clack._

The whistle of the train screamed hollow distant.

It echoed the numb horror in Lin's heart, because Shurui was gone; and so was her son.


	23. Chapter 23

**HAKU**

Plucking his damp tatter cloak off the floor Haku left the bath.

Calm followed him.

Gone was the panic that had seized him earlier.

His reconciliation with the mirror had brought him back to center.

That, however, did little for his exhaustion.

He shuffled down the hall like an old, old man, as his every bone and muscle throbbed with aches and pains. But he came up short as he noticed framed photos of the Ogino's decorated the walls. Stopping before one, Haku studied the image. Though they stood right next to each other, Akio beaming proudly and Yuko smiling prettily, even with her father's hand on her shoulder, Chihiro seemed to exist in a different space than parents. Haku found he was frowning as he searched photograph after photograph and found Chihiro similarly afflicted in every image. Then he happened upon an image from long, long ago.

In it Chihiro was painfully young. She wore the school uniform he had seen human children wearing in Ueno Park. Grinning broadly and looking very much like her father she revealed one of her front teeth was missing. She wore a bright red backpack so large it threatened to topple her over. Akio and Yuko held her by the hands as if to keep her upright. Though her parents were much younger in the photo little had changed. A bit trimmer, Akio still wore his arrogant smirk. Yuko still favored her pink lipstick and gold earrings. But for some reason, unlike the other photographs, they stood together instead of miles and miles apart. Coming closer Haku scrutinized the image trying to understand the reason for its difference. Then insides went perfectly still as he recognized the green rolling hills beyond the blue tiled roofs in the background.

His insides went cold as ice as he realized this photograph had been taken before Chihiro fell in his river. Haku found himself just as startled as he had been when Chihiro first saw and knew him for what he was. At that time it had been ages since any human had taken notice of him. In a panic he concealed the memory thinking her clarity had resulted from their encounter. Using magic he closed her eyes thinking he could return her to a normal life. In the end even that proved to be folly. Chihiro had been irrevocably changed when he touched her.

Haku's calm began to slip as he turned his eyes back across the images, searching and scrutinizing each only to find that the truth remained, captured in frozen glimpses of the past. The moment he saved her life he brought her between the worlds. There she remained in spite of the fact that she could not remember. She would complete that crossing much later. Again, the journey would leave her forever changed. Such a tumult of emotion welled in his chest in the wake of these truths. Though his pulse quickened with understanding he felt no remorse.

There was no other choice than the one he had made.

He refused to let her die.

As a result her life and his became forever intertwined.

Haku drew his eyes once again over the sea of faces until found the one he sought. It was small and out of focus, at odds with the other more formal images. In it was the child who had saved him from himself. Chihiro stood in front of the house. It was summer, as evidenced by the flourishing shrubs and flowers. Yuko was dressed for work and shunned the camera as she carried a box past her husband. She still wore her pink lipstick in spite of the kerchief holding back her hair. Akio however, bent beside his daughter hugging her sideways as he took the candid shot. She wore pink shorts and a white shirt striped with green. Her hair was bound back into the tight tail she still favored. But her eyes; her dark wide eyes; they stared out of the image at him with such knowing.

All at once Haku was reminded of Satako. The thought struck him from nowhere. It so unbalanced him he was forced to catch himself on the wall because with it came the fujo's curse. Calm forgotten, Haku bent beneath the weight of the mad female's words as his knees shook and his breath quickened on the edge of the horror stirring in his heart. Humans could lie. He clung to this fact lest other truths tear him apart because most of the terrible prediction remained true. When Chihiro used her wish to save Satako she had forced the child a step between. There was no return from this journey once begun.

That was the bargain of fate: something had to be lost in order to receive.

Chihiro and Satako lived.

Akio, Yuko, and Minako lost.

And so now he and Chihiro were both thieves.

Was this the price they would be forced to pay for the lives they had stolen? Despair boiled in his heart. Haku clenched his shaking fists and barely resisted the urge to strike the wall. How he _hated_ prophecy! Knowing was a _curse_ and not a blessing! He was sick and besieged with it! Fleeing the photographs and the knowledge they inspired Haku stumbled down the hall to part the guest room sliding door. Squeezing through he shut the door soundly, closing it behind him as if to prevent the dark revelations from following.

Leaning against it struggling to catch his breath he took in the room. So clean it was almost sterile, it was simply appointed in pale blue sand light varnished woods. There was a small side table, a forlornly empty book shelf, and an overly large bed. This he regarded with gratitude for with luck his feet would not hang off the end. Heat breathed out of the vents making the paper shaded light rock from side to side as the room filled with blissful warmth. But Haku came up short as he found Okesa crouched on the foot of the western style bed.

He went perfectly still as he caught sight of Shurui's black fan in her hand. Clutching the heavy iron bell in her palm she wafted the soggy fan back and forth in an attempt to dry it. Beside her the three red fans lay open on the coverlet soaking it through with a growing wet spot. His mouth fell open in consternation as cat closed the fan and squeeze the water out of its folds right onto the beige carpet beside the bed!

"Okesa! You will ruin the floor!"

The cat pulled a mild frown as she continued to carefully squeeze the fan.

"So? Got's t'git 'em dry an' quick."

As Haku sputtered Okesa twitched her tail.

"Y'sound like t'fox when y'do tha', neh kitten."

As anger spiked in his gut as she compared him to Suzume. Magic crackled in his blood in response to his turbulent emotions. More than irritated Haku tossed out his hands, catching the water midair as it dribbled from the fan. Okesa hissed in surprise, throwing herself off the bed and dropping the fan. The iron bell gave a single muted peal as it fell onto the floor. Okesa fell to her knees in response to the sound. It hit him just as physically, ringing in his bones like an electric shock. But Sengen's jewel pulsed against his naked skin only to burn with cold as the sound broke over him harmlessly. Ignoring the cat's startled gaze and distracted by concentration, Haku commanded the water out of the rug, the coverlet, and the fans. The water obeyed, falling in a reverse rain as it drifted up into the air. Gathering the droplets into a tiny orb, he ushered the water out the window amidst a blast of frozen air. It fell in a cascade of dirty snow as he yanked the window closed. Shivering violently, he turned to admonish the cat only to come up short as he found her beaming blithely, opening and closing her now dry fans. Stowing the black fan, she happily flourishing the three remaining, spinning in a circle making the bells ring as she danced.

"Ha! Good as new."

Deflated by her exuberance Haku wilted as he gave up his irritation. Wincing with every move he climbed between the bed clothes. The quilt was delightfully heavy and the soft sheets slid against his legs crisp and cool. Loosing another long sigh that left him teetering on the edge of awake, Haku let his head sink back into the pillows only to flounder as Okesa climbed over him. Embarrassment flooded his face but he could do nothing but accept her attention as she burrowed beside him, pulling his left arm around her shoulders. Luckily she had chosen his uninjured arm. Claiming his hand she put it in her silky soft hair.

"Scratch my ears, neh kitten?"

Smiling in spite of himself Haku absently stroked the velvet fur of her small ears only to flinch again as she began kneading his side, pricking the covers with her claws. He endured her pointy affections. No doubt she craved comfort. In truth so too did Haku. As he continued to gently scratch her ears she rubbed her face in the fold of his kimono purring so loudly his chest vibrated. The sound was more than soothing and Haku found himself dozing. Then he was asleep.

He did not dream. All the same, something jolted him awake only to discover the lights had been turned off. Haku was not sure how long he slept. Not long because it was still dark and snowing outside the window. Still he felt Chihiro's absence keenly. Groping the covers beside him he found himself alone. That troubled him greatly and he half feared this to be a nightmare. To be alone was true terror indeed and he called out childishly.

"Okesa? Okesa, are you there?"

Tiny footfalls crossed his legs until a familiar weight curled up beside him.

"Aye's 'ere, neh?"

Still half asleep Haku caught her impulsively, towing her close. He was rewarded by the cat's enthusiastic purring. Absently the question spilled from his lips.

"Where is Chihiro?"

"Hasn' come up yet. While back she wuz talkin' t'er momma."

"I see," Haku murmured distantly, dozing again.

The cat fidgeted as if trying find a comfortable position. As she continued to shift and wriggle Haku could hear the thoughts rattling around inside her head. Blinking himself back to a waking state Haku frowned.

"What troubles you, Okesa?"

"Neh?" The cat began quietly, "Who's Zeniba?"

Her question caught him off guard. Haku did not want to think any more about the terrible things the mad female had revealed. Reluctantly he forced himself to reply.

"Zeniba is Yubaba's twin sister."

Okesa squirmed awkwardly as if embarrassed.

"Who's Yubaba again?"

Haku snorted humorlessly.

"She was once my master, the witch who stole my name and was eaten by the Forgotten."

Okesa was picking at a stray thread at the front of his kimono.

"Oh… But Zeniba didn' git eaten, neh?"

Haku returned to smoothing her hair to distract himself from the unhappy memories.

"Apparently not."

Okesa hid her nose between her folded hands but her ruby eyes were staring far, far away. They glittered in the dim light filtering in from the garden outside.

"Where's Higashiyama, neh?"

Haku unconsciously glanced to the west.

"What is it that humans now call Heian Kyo? I think it is Kyoto."

Her face creased into lines of confusion.

"Buh wot sit got's t'do wit' Zeniba?"

It was his turn to look away. Through a part in the curtains Haku watched the snow continue to fall outside the windows. The dim filtering flakes piled on the sill outside in a growing shelf of white that appeared deceptively soft. All the while he watched them his thoughts continued to turn until he could contain them no more.

"The trains that once traveled here went in both directions. I never gave their origin and terminus much thought. It is possible they once followed the Nakasendo between Edo and Heian Kyo. Perhaps to escape the Forgotten she went so far as Heian Kyo. That would explain why Kaonashi could not follow."

At once Haku regretted speaking the gaki's name. To mention Kaonashi now implied the spirit of the dead musician the pathetic creature carried. Even though Tomoe's absence was obvious Okesa had not mentioned the ghost once since the spirit disappeared in spider cavern. He had caught numerous moments of sadness in the cat the belied her pain. He, however, had chosen to respect her silence. But now, in his thoughtlessness, he broke that silence.

Okesa responded poorly.

As Haku spoke Kaonashi's name the cat went completely rigid.

Her claws sank through the thin silk of his kimono.

Haku gasped, recoiling instinctively as they drew blood.

Then Okesa tried to flee.

Before she could disappear he caught her.

Holding her against her will was like trying to catch a fish with ones hands.

"Please, Okesa!" Haku pleaded, "Do not go!"

All at once she fell still as if compelled by his words to stay. Then she crumbled in on herself, snuffling loudly she gathered handfuls of his sleeves and soaked them through with her cold, cold tears. Feeling as if he might catch fire from shame Haku held her close only to be reminded of her tiny stature. She was little larger than Satako whereas in his mind's eye Okesa could fill a room with her dazzling presence. It frightened him to be reminded of how fragile Okesa could be. God or not; he had seen her come close to death. Holding her now and thinking of these terrible things only served to prove to him of how precious she was in his heart.

Willingly she journeyed with him through terrors and madness. She guided him through his days as a mortal neophyte, protecting him and risking her life for his. No matter how frustrating and uncouth she could be as Cinnamon the cat; no matter how flirtatious and erotic she could be on the stage in her transformations as Okesa no Sado; the cat was stronger, wiser, and more generous than few of the Gods gave her credit. Her presence in his life was now a given. He loved her as a friend, a sister, and with all his heart. And that he had caused her pain, however unintentional, brought him such sorrow.

"Apologies," he murmured in earnest, "I did not think before I spoke."

Much to his chagrin she blew her nose in his sleeve.

He, however, said nothing and let her use him as a handkerchief.

"S'okay… S'not yer fault… S'automatic, neh? Aye git upset an' aye run."

The cat sounded even smaller beneath the weight of her melancholy, drooping in his arms as if shrinking before his very eyes.

"Tommie's been wit' me fer ah long time, neh? Aye forget sometimes 'e's not 'ere."

She was wiping her face on his sleeves again, hiding in them and sounding so very lost and forlorn as she whispered through the silk.

"Where'd he go, neh? Why didn' 'e wait fer me, neh?"

His heart ached all the more because there was little he could offer to ally her suffering. All the same, he shared what he had learned for her benefit.

"Whatever his reasons, dear Okesa, they must be good. The spider said that Tomoe left the cavern on the same train that carried Lin. Perhaps he followed for her benefit?"

At once the cat's tear and snot streaked face went blank with surprise as she lifted her red rimmed ruby eyes to his. Frowning absently and unable to contain himself Haku took the corner of his sleeve and wiped at her nose. She batted at his hands, soberly considering his words as her pupils contracted into narrow slits.

"Y'think Tommie's wit' sour-puss?"

By _sour-puss_ the cat meant Lin. They two of them had never set well with each other. Haku nodded, not wanting to speak the words aloud out of fear that they might become a lie. There was a chance that the ghost had indeed accompanied Lin and one Haku fervently hoped would prove true. The gaki and his resident spirit were capable of great and terrible things. Suddenly the cat growled and spit, giving him a fright. She hissed and flattened her ears, striking him with her lashing tail as she gnashed every next word between her teeth.

"Stupid, _stupid_ ghostie! Now tha' 'e's got _legs_ 'e ups an' takes off! Now aye got's t'go look fer 'im, neh! 'E ain't gonna leave me! Aye gonna find Tommie, neh! Then aye ain't never ever gonna let 'im outta my sight!"

As she indulged in an angry snit the cat scooted and wriggled herself into place beside him, burrowing into his arms and letting him hold her close. He stroked her ears as she had request of him before. At once she was purring and kneading his side. Had she continued to purr no doubt he would have fallen back asleep. Slowly, however, Okesa ceased to purr just as she ceased to knead his side. As she did Haku could feel her tensing, becoming a tightly little ball of tension beside him. Haku found himself wide awake and listening to the silence as slowly it became uncomfortable. A prick of apprehension wound round his heart in a cold line that drew tighter and tighter with each second. He did not realize he was holding his breath until finally she spoke.

"Shouldn' we be gettin' goin'? Wot if t'train pulls thru an' we ain' there?"

Losing his breath in a long slow sigh Haku drew it in again so he could explain.

"Grant Chihiro what little time we can spare, Okesa; we have more of it than you realize, and it is very possible that she may never see her parents again."

It was a terribly sobering statement and one for which the cat had no reply. Blinking rapidly, she snuggled into the covers beside him. She went quiet as she gathered her tail close to her body. Haku closed his eyes and tried not to think about anything more. Listening to the ringing silence he prayed that sleep would come. Thankfully it did.

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Kuromi held out something with one of her pale pretty hands.

"I left the way to Ueno Park open in case you need to return."

Sen blinked at the spider put a bath tile in her hands. Then she blinked some more as she realized Kuromi was gone. Shrinking from the open portal and the eerie view of her parents' kitchen beyond, Sen dropped her eyes to stare at the glossy bit of wood and varnish.

"Kami-Human is stupid for trusting spider."

She gasped, dropping the bath tile as she whirled toward the front stairs as a tiny surly voice spoke out of the silence. It took her a second to see Bozu crouched under the split curtain, peering at her from under the brim of his battered bowler hat with one wide eye. He was anxiously running a long string of prayer bead through his three-fingered hands. Wilting at the sight of the yokai, Sen frowned at him before pushing off the wall to pick up the bath tile.

"Cinna says the same thing about you."

Bozu shuffled onto the landing seething with huffiness. He shushed her vehemently before stomping his foot.

"Stupid cat is rude!"

Pale blue light flooded over his shoulders as the lantern ducked under the curtain hem, darting up into the rafters only to drift over and warily peer through the portal after the spider with the flickering iris of her flame. Sen caught the lantern as it turned blue with fright and fled into her arms while Onsen gathered overhead in the invisible cloud of her anxious mothy fluttering. When her attentions circled around the portal, it became obvious to Sen that Onsen was upset that Kohaku hadn't come home with her. Shadows writhed and intensified in the shrinking light from the lantern as the house creaked and shuddered ominously. Bozu squealed and fled down the steps to hide under the table, eyeing the warping rafters tremulously. He, however, didn't shush Onsen. As if confiding in her Bozu whispered behind his hand.

"Old House is cranky and scary!"

Exasperated and a little amused, Sen did her best to placate the house as the lantern quaked and guttered in her arms.

"He's fine, Onsen. He's sleeping. Will you cut that out before you wake everyone up?"

The house didn't seem convinced, but at least she settled down. As the shadows cleared Bozu emerged from under the table still clutching his hat as if he expected to have it yanked from his head. Sen released Chouchin only to have the lantern crowd and clamber at her back. She nearly tripped over the yokai as he appeared at her feet to command her imperiously.

"Kami-Human will let Bozu back through to Ueno!"

Sen blinked and frowned.

"You want to go back to Ueno!?"

The goblin nodded gravely.

"Kami children need Bozu."

She blinked and blinked as she remembered the kitten, the rat girl, the badger boy, and the funny old man with the kettle full of beans.

"You mean the kids in the park?"

The yokai nodded solemnly.

"Bozu will look after them until Kubi-san comes home."

How could she argue with that? Reverently, as if it was some kind of formal ritual, the yokai took off his hat. With both hands he held the bowler out to her and bowed slightly.

"Give hat to stupid dragon. Tell him Bozu expects to get it back."

Not sure of what to make of this, Sen accepted it.

"Okay…?"

Closing the slider she replaced the tile on the nail then pulled it open once more. This would never get old. Her insides thrilled with awe as magic surged up her arm. Every hair on her forearms and on the back of her neck stood on end. Her knees wobbled and her stomach flipped. More than unnerved she stared through the door. On the other side and halfway across Honshu was the dark of Ueno Park.

She recognized the ruined courtyard in spite of all the rubble and difficult half-formed feeling circled in her heart. But the warm air distracted her as the acrid stink of asphalt and car exhausted breathed over the threshold. There was no snow. The temperature felt balmy compared to the cold snap currently chewing on Gifu Prefecture. The Tokyo skyline slumbered on the distant horizon making the night sky warm into a dusky orange. Beyond the lip of the hill through the tall curtain of bamboo she could see the dim contours of the manicured gardens that graced the grounds of the Gojo Tenjin Shrine. Sen drew her lips into a grim angry line as she stared at the dark veranda. She half considered breaking into the shrine and making Kazue explain the geihobako.

She skittered aside as Bozu shoved by and darted across the threshold. Sparking and spitting anxious blue light Chouchin chased after him. Whirling with a frown, the goblin waved the lantern back towards the portal.

"Shoo! Shoo! Chouchin must stay!"

Sen cringed in surprise, hiding behind the doorframe as the lantern erupted into a ghostly ball of crackling blue flame straight out of a horror movie, hissing and gyrating furiously as she lit up the forlorn courtyard. With a strangled squeal Bozu produced a wide-brimmed and battered kesa, using it like a shield to ward off her sparks as he fled to hide behind an overturned cast iron chair. Still hiding under his hat he explained himself quickly.

"Chouchin must stay to look after stupid dragon!"

At once the lantern guttered and dwindled tiny. Vacillating for a moment, the lantern finally drifted reluctantly back through the archway into the kitchen. As Sen craned her neck around the frame to look back out into the courtyard Bozu was gone. The bottom dropped out of her stomach as she wildly searched the shadows grinding her teeth against the urge to call him back. Ueno was still crawling with spiders and she'd just set him loose into the middle of that mess! But he wanted to go and she had no right to stop him. Back to chewing her lip she stood there at a loss hoping he and the kids would be okay. As a warm breeze blew across the threshold Sen lifted her eyes to watch the blinking lights of the distant Tokyo skyline.

Her insides squeezed uncomfortably as finally she shut the door. There was no way she'd be up to talking to Michio tonight. Feeling like a coward, she took down the Ueno tile and returned the one that connected to her parents' house. Opening the slider again she shuddered as magic skittered across her skin. Looking through the doorway she stared at the place that was no longer home only to recoil with a squeak as Onsen slammed the door in her face. Chouchin fed the kitchen under the curtain as the obviously unhappy ethereal cloud of the house's presence churned in the rafters spilling scary shadows all through the gloomy kitchen. Pulling on the door Sen wilted in exasperation as the slider refused to budge. Tossing the hat onto the table in the nook she appealed to the ceiling.

"Don't be like that, okay? I know we said we were going to come back tonight and we didn't but we'll be back in the morning. I promise."

As before the house didn't seem convinced. Was it possible for a house to pout? Sen gestured meaninglessly as she spun in a circle, talking to nowhere and everywhere. As she did she tried to be as gentle as possible

"Look. Even if we don't come back tomorrow we have to come back eventually. You're our home now, Onsen. We have to come home."

A jolt rolled through the house from floor to ceiling at that. At once the walls ceased to creak and snap as the shadows cleared. Slowly, and with extreme reluctance, the door rolled open. Before the house could change its mind Sen crossed quickly and shut the door. On the other side she found herself clutching the doorknob in both hands so tightly her shoulder began to ache and burn. As the connection severed and the prickle of magic faded she found herself on the brink of tears. Blinking rapidly and struggling to breathe, she yanked the tile off the pantry door. Shoving it into her pocket she fled upstairs not needing to see where she was going. But as she came around the corner in the hallway heading for the guest room Sen came up short.

The door to her room was open.

A light was on inside.

It spilled down the hall like a stain of warmth parting the indigo gloom that stopped just short of touching her toes. Scooting forward, creeping along and trying not to make a sound, she sidled up to the door frame and peered inside. Somebody had tidied things up, righting the side table and returning the things that had fallen from the shelves in Kohaku's wind. For a moment Chihiro panicked and thought perhaps her mom had been in here before she went to bed. But then she saw him. White as a ghost Suzume was seated at her desk clean and crisp as if he didn't even know what mud was. His long sleeves and the hem of his hakama pooled over his bare feet making him look like a giant as he perched on the edge of the tiny kid-sized chair. He was completely out of place among her stuffed animals and the other faded fluorescent high school detritus. With one of his blackened hands he held back the ragged fringe of his hacked off hair. With the other he turned the well-worn pages of her book.

Light from the buzzing bulb glinted off of something sitting on the desk beside the book.

Sen's insides went perfectly cold as she glanced at the bit of shell.

She stared stupidly at the bracelet Hidé made for her.

She'd forgotten all about putting it in the drawer beside her bed.

She'd left it here when she left with Michio for Tokyo.

It must've fallen out when they knocked over the side table.

Suzume must've found it.

Avoiding looking at the bracelet Sen glanced back at the fox and blinked. For once he didn't look supremely pissed. His face was smooth and calm as his eerie gold eyes darted back and forth across the page. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him read. He was pretty in the same Godish way that Kohaku was pretty. But as she continued to spy on him a pinch formed between his brows. As it deepened into a scowl his ember eyes flashed to the side, looking right at her as his mouth drew into a thin grim line. Instinctively Sen jerked back from the doorway with a squeak. She flattened herself against the wall as her insides crawled anxiously. Then from inside the room she heard the fox sigh in exasperation. Feeling like an idiot she wilted then pushed away from the wall. Loitering in the doorway she realized she was waiting for him to invite her into her own room. Annoyed, she opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing in her room only to have him cut her off.

"How much of this is true?"

She blinked and blinked and blinked. Suzume closed the book but lingered his hand on the cover. It took her a second to realize he was talking about her story. At least he didn't mention the bracelet. Stalking by she plunked down on the edge of her bed and grabbed a pillow to hug, still pissed that he'd invaded her room without her permission.

"All of it," she answered tersely.

As he didn't reply immediately she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and found him searching the walls of her room with a bemused smirk.

"Pink?"

Sen dropped her burning face into the pillow, muttering sullenly through the cushion.

"Thank my mom. I've always liked green better."

Her jerked her head up in surprise as the mattress shifted. Suddenly Suzume was sitting beside her. The fox was considering her shoulder with a cryptic expression.

"Does it pain you still?"

His question was a gentle murmur compared to his usual commanding barks. As heat intensified in her already charred cheeks she forced herself to nod. Because it did hurt and lying to him would only piss him off. She stared at his charcoal black hands as he offered them gently.

"May I?"

Looking away she shrugged her shoulder out of the neckline of her nightshirt. His hands were cold as ice as they slid across her bare skin. She bit her lip to keep from sucking in a sharp breath. But slowly the nagging chewing began to fade as he gently massaged the place where the arrowed punched a hole through her. Again her vision swam but not because of her shoulder. She gritted her teeth and blinked rapidly trying to make it clear. Again Suzume startled her with kindness as he continued to work.

"Child. There is no shame in tears."

Looking away she stared at the snow falling outside the window feeling strangely numb. Chihiro wouldn't have had any problem bawling her eyes out. Sen sighed long and slow.

"I'm tired of crying. It seems like that's all I ever do."

His hands paused although they remained lightly.

"How is the pain?"

She shrugged and circled her shoulder only to find the pinching ache gone.

"Better."

Although he took back his hands he remained seated beside her. Again Sen glanced at Suzume from the corner of her eyes only to find him studying the drawings tacked to the far wall. They looked crude and childish compared to Satako's amazing creations. All the same, the fox seemed enthralled. It took her a moment to see he was staring at one she'd made of Lin.

"Do you draw still?"

His question caught her off guard.

"N-no… Not really… I write instead."

That last bit came out more deprecating than she intended and Suzume frowned.

"There is great power in words, child."

She blinked at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

Again he snorted as if she'd said something stupid. But before she could say something nasty in return he stood and produced from his sleeve a crisp sheet of the warm beige calligraphy paper he favored, unfurling it between them like some kind of magic trick. Turning on his heels he sank onto his knees in practiced movements only to produce an ancient calligraphy brush from his other sleeve. Seated at the edge of the bed like it was a desk he held back his long trailing sleeve with almost ritualistic precision. Then Suzume poised the brush on the paper and painted swift graceful stroke across the page. Sen's eyes went wide as ink soaked through the paper as if summoned from thin air. Out of nowhere the characters for maple leaf appeared on the page in gorgeous curling strokes. Yanking up the edge of the sheet she searched the underside and saw none had soaked through onto the coverlet. It was then that she realized the paper was no longer paper. Instead it had become a fresh green maple leaf in her hand. Startled, she dropped the leaf and shrank dividing her dumbstruck stare between the sprig and the fox. Suzume was hiding a smirk behind one of his ink black hands. Scowling, Sen resisted the urge to kick him.

"H-how'd you do that!?"

Flourishing his other hand he held up the calligraphy brush.

"This is no ordinary brush, child. Just as this is no ordinary paper. Be forewarned for the magic does not last long. Once the ink evaporates completely the spell comes to an end."

As he gestured toward the leaf Sen realized the color was already beginning to fade. Again she jumped as he took her hand and closed her fingers around the brush. Before she could protest he pressed a finger against her lips pulling an irritated moue. But there was still an ember of the smirk he'd hidden glimmering in his gold eyes. It flickered brightly like one of his foxfires.

Sighing as if suddenly exhausted, Suzume continued to frown sourly as he stood looking at her bed as is sizing it up. As he sat and stretched out on top of the covers he took up the entire bed, displacing her without so much as an apology. She clambered to her feet glaring at him incredulously only to take small pleasure in the fact that his feet hung off the end by more than a few inches. As he turned her back on her it was obvious he was done talking. She stared at him for a long moment trying to decide whether or not she should kick him out of her room. Then she picked up the blanket Kohaku had knocked from the foot of the bed earlier.

This she unfolded and spread over him.

It was way too small and barely reached his knees.

Unfortunately there was nothing she could do for his feet.

As she turned and switched off the light Suzume spoke up in the dark.

"Sen."

The sound of her other name brought her to a standstill in the doorway.

He never called her by her name, especially not her other name.

A thrill went spidering up her spine as he admonished her gently in the dark.

"Do not speak ill of your words. They carry more weight than you know."

Speechless, she fidgeted awkwardly caught up in a flood of difficult feelings.

Then her eyes fell on the bracelet again.

Again light glinted off the mother of pearl shell.

Panic surge into her throat, making her lightheaded.

Snatching it up she shoved it into her pocket.

Closing the door she hurried away feeling like an idiot all over again.

Sen was down the hallway and squeezing through a crack in the guest room slider before she realized what she was doing. She was willing to risk getting caught by her mom or dad. There was no way in hell she was sleeping on the floor in her bedroom or on the couch downstairs. Besides, right now she very much needed to feel him beside her. But Sen came up short on the other side as she found the bed already more than occupied. Poor Kohaku was perched on the edge looking like he might slip off at any moment. Cinna, however, was sprawled across the rest of the queen sized mattress occupying an impossibly large amount of space. She'd even thrown one of her arms across his pillow so that he could only use a single corner. The cat was snoring softly and every so often she twitched, wiggling her toes.

Vacillating wildly between outrage and amusement, Sen watched them sleep.

Kicking off her Hello Kitty slippers Sen came around to Kohaku's side of the bed. Emptying her pockets onto the side table she leaned over him and shoved the cat. Cinna growled in her sleep but rolled aside, flicking her in the face with her tail as she reluctantly made room. As Sen pushed and prodded the cat out of the way Kohaku woke with a jerk, blinking up at her in sleepy confusion that soothed into recognition. His hair was flatted on one side where it dried on the pillow. He couldn't seem to keep both eyes open at once, blinking owlishly. She was too tired to laugh at him as he scooted to the side holding the covers up. As she climbed into bed beside him he fought with Cinna for the blankets. The cat had wadded most of them up beneath her back. Finally he hauled enough free to pull over them, covering her in warm floral scented linens. Yuko always chose the stinkiest detergents. The bed was way too soft; creaking with springs every time she moved. All at once Sen missed the hard futon she once found terribly uncomfortable. She missed the faint spicy smell of cedar and camphor. But his arm was better than any pillow and she burrowed against him.

Then Kohaku winced and circled his wrist.

As it cracked loudly her eyes shot wide open.

It was the sound of bones snapping, triggering flashes of horror behind her eyes.

Rocks and fire cascaded through the inside of her head.

Then he was absently smoothing her hair.

And she had to close her eyes after a few moments of that.

The slow thudding beat of his heart was the last thing she heard before she fell asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**HAKU**

As she rolled away in sleep he went with her.

Draping his arm across her waist he pulled unconsciously.

Chihiro obliged, wiggling backwards until her back was pressed against his stomach. Her shirt had crept up just as the front of his robe had crept apart. He could feel a burning patch of her soft bare skin against his. Letting out a contented sigh he curled around her tickling his nose in her messy hair. She smelled strongly of human soap, as did the soft bed clothes enveloping them. Relaxing his head into the pillow Haku tried to find sleep again. But the nagging ache in his arm slowly forced him awake. Grudgingly he opened his eyes but refused to move for Chihiro was still sound asleep. Warm and comfortable, he was happy to simply lay here until forced to do otherwise.

It was then he realized that Okesa was missing from the bed.

Where the cat had gone he did not know.

At the moment he did not care.

Though sleep had restored him Haku still felt every ache and bruise that the previous evening had dealt him. Blinking rapidly he squinted, lifting a hand to shield his eyes only to wince again as a pinch of pain numbed his fingers. Thin blades of light angled into the guestroom through gaps in the translucent curtains, filling the room in diffuse pale blue. Worried by the brightness and fearing they had slept late, he glanced at the side table seeking the red glowing hatch marks that told human time. The electric clock reassured him that it was quite early. But then Haku found himself staring at the geihobako. One of the oni-shaped fittings exposed its tongue in a rude gesture as if mocking him.

Beside it dangled a bit of rope and shell.

Haku knew the thing immediately.

At the sight of it his heart tightened and twisted as if wrung by a frozen fist.

No matter how much time passed he would forever be haunted by what had transpired on the rocks beside the sea. Hastily Haku threw his eyes away even though the pain remained in his heart worse than any that afflicted the muscles and bone of his mortal body. He was surprised by the anger he felt at the sight of the bracelet that Hidé gifted Chihiro. The bracelet was a suitor's offering. And with a surge of feral vehemence he desired very much to snatch it up and hurl the thing out the window! But in the wake of that heated urge guilt cooled the wild stab of jealousy. Much to his chagrin Haku considered Chihiro might feel similarly if she knew of how Kubi had gifted him the green robe. Haku forced to look at the bracelet again and took small solace in the fact that he had not seen her wear it since Sengen's curse drove her from Kumomi.

His scale, however, remained forever around her neck.

Drifting his eyes across the nape of Chihiro's neck he gently smoothed her silver hair aside so he could trace the purple cord with the tip of his finger. As it sent an eerie nibble skittering up his arm Haku marveled at how the witch's magic resonated in the fibers still. He, however, was not nearly so pleased with the jewel he was forced to wear. Reluctantly he took his hand back from the soft sweet curve of Chihiro's hip to grip the bit of sapphire that hung on a silver chain around his neck. He had not had the chance to ask Chihiro to take it back. Though it burned with an intense cold that made him apprehensive, Haku acknowledged that Sengen's jewel had served him well the previous night. Whereas it might have laughed and gladly drowned him, thanks to the jewel's persuasion that saltwater deluge Haku inadvertently set lose in the canyon obeyed his every command.

And that left him wondering sullenly if that was Sengen's doing.

Or was it her son's?

Again Chihiro shifted, rolling towards him this time. Haku forgot his dour thoughts as he scooted to make use of the rest of the bed, turning onto his back so she could pillow her head on his shoulder. She sighed gustily and snuggled into him, absently opening and closing her fingers on the nubbly fabric of his kimono. As if she was sunlight and he a pile of snow Haku melted into her touch. All the while a heat of entirely different kind intensified where their bodies pressed together. As dawn seeped in from beyond the curtains, the invading daylight caught in her pale lashes and glinted off her starlight hair making her burn in his eyes like pale fire. He could summon no words to describe the love that surfaced in his heart for her in that moment. Overwhelmed, Haku traced her lips with his hungry gaze. Gently he tipped her face towards his to plant a light kiss on those lips. He, however, had not expected her to respond with such enthusiasm.

At once she pressed and molded herself into the crooks and bends of his body, ghosting her hand into the front of his robe and drawing her fingers in light lines of fire across his chest. He sucked in a sharp breath of surprise only to jolt as she yanked at the front fold of his kimono open. Fleet and determined her mouth grazed the curve of his pectoral muscle only to close over the hard point she uncovered there. The shock of the contact struck him back into the pillows. It forced a strangled sound from his lips as he arched beneath the sheer pleasurable power of the sensation. Humming in low ardent response, she suckled and swirled her tongue daringly, setting him writhing in the bedclothes. All the while her hand traced the meridian of the hard hollow that was his stomach, fording lower lower still. Scandalized, he rolled over and pinned those brazen, _brazen_ hands.

"Are you not the one who is worried your mother might discover us!?"

Haku hissed beneath his breath, admonishing her as his cheeks burned. She pouted prettily all the while gazing up at him smolderingly.

"You started it."

Momentarily stymied, he worked his mouth soundlessly only to frown indignantly.

"I only kissed you and _chastely_ at that."

In response to that Chihiro flattened her feet on the bed, lifting against him making it clear she was no longer worried about being discovered. Nor was there anything chaste about the thrilling slide of her skin against his skin. Weakened by the glorious sensation, his resistance began to crumble as the heat of her body beneath his inspired in him a stab of lust so strong he was forced to bow his face into the curve of her neck. It left his entire body trembling. Finally free, her hands dipped back inside the front of his robe only to part, darting to his sides where she traced the skin of his back with whispering fingertips; gently, softy, so achingly slowly. He was left cringing, twitching, and gasping atop her. But he was not lost entirely; not yet.

"N-not here, dear one…"

He begged against the soft skin behind her ear. Her hands, those wonderfully terrible hands; finally they fell still. And Chihiro loosed a frustrated sigh as she ran a bare foot down the back of his calf. Her breath was hot and quick against his shoulder.

"Why not? There's nothing dirty or bad about this."

He struggled to explain himself, finding it exceedingly difficult to think.

"I know, dear one, but I… I do not wish to be discourteous toward your parents."

Forcing himself to roll aside tucking the front of his robe back into place appealing to her for consideration only to have her follow. As she tugged at it her face lit up with a wicked grin.

"My parents love you, especially my dad. I can't believe I'm telling you this, but as wrong as it sounds he'd probably cheer you on."

At once he was battling her hands again, distracted and encouraged by her words.

"Have I made a good impression then?"

Chihiro snorted.

"Are you kidding? Yes and then some."

As she stared at him directly Haku found himself looking away smiling shyly. She sat up beside him folding her legs and tugging the hem of her shirt down. The stretchy garment was terribly tight and far too small. It crept back up revealing a glimpse of her navel. Still stretched out beside her he was offered an unobstructed view. This strange bit of human anatomy never ceased to fascinate him. Heat crept into his cheeks as he realized he had tilted his head to the side and was staring at it curiously. To distract himself he spoke his mind.

"Are you pleased then?"

She blinked rapidly as was her habit.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Immediately realized he had spoken the whole truth without intending to do so.

"You did not seem to enjoy the idea that I should meet your parents."

Her face wiped with confusion.

"When?"

Diffidently dropping his eyes he stared at his scale where it hung around her neck. The cord had become twisted during their wrestling. He hesitated a moment then reached out and untangled it, reaching further back with his reply.

"When I was yet a God."

All at once she went perfectly still. He could not bring himself to look for fear of what he might see. Then she began wringing the hem of her shirt in her hands, hurriedly whispering as if trying to explain some great transgression

"I didn't mean it like that, I… I was just _worried_ ; worried for you, for me, for everyone. You were really unhappy back then and it made you… difficult."

Haku smirked ruefully.

" _Difficult_ is not the word I would have chosen to describe myself, dear one."

Again she was staring at him and this time he forced himself to look. He found her face tight with confusion as she studied him as if unsure of something.

"Just now… Were you being sarcastic?"

He blinked and frowned.

"What is sarcastic?"

She snorted again, wavering again somewhere between amusement and disquiet.

"Seriously?

Fighting back the ever lengthening fringe of his hair, he glanced aside as embarrassment kindled in his cheeks; because he did not understand what she was asking.

"As you say: seriously."

Again she blinked as if he had said something utterly bizarre.

"How would've you described yourself?"

As the heat in his face intensified as he found himself baffled by her questions. Furrowing his brow he searched for the correct words and settled on one of Jae's favorites.

"I was quite an ass."

She sat back shaking her head as if struck by some profound revelation. All the color drained from her face as she continued to gawk at him as if he had sprouted a third eye. Fidgeting uncomfortably he confronted her disquiet. Sitting up on his knees he flustered his hands uselessly wondering what he had done wrong.

"Dear one, you stare strangely and it makes me terribly nervous."

She continued to look at him as if lost.

"You. I don't know what to think of you."

Just as lost he returned her gaze and quietly appealed for explanation.

"Dear one, I… I still do not understand."

Back to pulling the bottom of her shirt she looked away and spoke quickly.

"You've changed so much…. You joke and tease and make _sarcastic_ comments! You're acting like a _normal_ person! And after all the wind and rain and… and… the growling and the almost _eating_ people it _freaks_ me out because I feel like I don't know you anymore!"

Haku listened carefully, absorbing all she had said. Slowly he came to understand. For as she spoke of him in turn she also spoke of herself.

"A great deal of time has been stolen from us, dear one. Our time together has been short and mostly bitter. We are both changed because of it. But that does not make us strangers to each other. Nor does it make us strangers to ourselves. Does that make sense, dear one?"

As she continued to stare blankly he appealed gently needing to know she had heard him.

"Chihiro?"

She cringed at her name, abruptly changing the subject.

"That's not my name anymore."

Here she grew angry, throwing down her clenched fists. The child Haku once knew used that exact same posture to display her displeasure. Had she been standing no doubt Chihiro would have stomped her foot. Glaring at him sideways she threw her gaze away as sorrow seized her face.

"Calling me that is like me calling you Kou!"

He studied her for a long moment and realized she had discovered the truth he had seen in the photographs on the walls in the hallway outside the guestroom. Watching her now he also realized she was struggling just as he struggled before the mirror the previous night. She was trying to understand what she was becoming and at the same mourning the loss of what she had been. Quietly, gently, he reached for her and tried to explain what he knew only too well.

"Though you are no longer the child that fell into my river; the memory of that girl will always live inside my heart. Just as I hope the memory of the poor disheveled dishwasher and the God of the river still live inside of yours. I love her as I love you now. So long as I love her she will never be gone completely."

She stared at him for what felt like hours. Haku almost panicked thinking he had said something terribly wrong. But unlike before she was looking at him and seeing him. She must have heard him as well because she threw her arms around his neck just as Satako had. In a wild rush of relief he kissed and tucked the crown of her head beneath his chin.

"I will call you by any name you choose; tell me which and gladly I will do as you wish."

This he murmured into her hair only to have her shiver violently.

"I'm just scared," Chihiro hushed through chattering teeth, "You're right. Things are different. I'm different. You're different. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm _scared stupid_ one day you'll get sick of all this _being human_ crap and regret your decision!"

Ah. So that was it.

Haku sighed gustily as finally she revealed the truth of her discord.

Amano was right: guilt was the worst of mortal afflictions.

How they suffered from it so unnecessarily.

Taking her hands in his he lifted them to his face.

Finding her eyes he held them with his gaze compelling her to see him again.

And he repeated with confidence what he told her that night what felt like ages past.

"This is real, Chihiro. I am real."

He moved her hands to press them over his swiftly beating heart.

"I know things no God could ever know; I see things no God could ever hope to see; and because of that I am able to _feel_ things for you things no God could ever feel. Seki no Taro was wrong. I am more than I have ever been before, not less. And I will _never_ regret my decision as long as I live."

Slowly Haku watched her face smooth.

Out of her pale luminous eyes welled an eerie unwavering calm.

It touched a chord deep in his heart where storm clouds brewed and rivers flowed.

Such a look did not belong to the girl he once knew.

It did not belong to a human either.

And it became clear that she had become more as well.

Sen's eyes burned as she offered her mouth challengingly.

"Given our record and where we're headed, when's the next time we'll both be clean, safe, and have a bed?"

She muttered the next as if terribly annoyed at him for wasting time in which they could have been otherwise occupied. And his lips quirked as her hands closed on the lapels of his kimono and pulled.

"Kiss me already, you prude!"

As his hands surged up into her hair he bent his head to oblige.

Back onto the tangles of blankets and sheets they crashed.

But even as they made love in the dawn light, a shadow remained.

Even as he loved her.

Even as she loved him.

There was nothing either of them could do to chase it away.

Because a road they would be forced to walk lay outside their window.

* * *

 **CHIHIRO**

Parked in the lot beside a municipal power shed she switched off the Audi's engine.

Sen bowed her head to look through the front window.

Ahead of them the old hinoki tree loomed above the old road hidden under the snow.

It rose like a memory out of the blanket of white muffled and garlanded in ice.

Its indigo shadow stretched long in the early light filtering across the bald blue sky.

Like an accusing finger it seemed to point right at her parents' house.

The blue structure seemed to stand out in the midst of the other drab beige buildings. Again Sen was struck by the eerie sensation of distance that yawned in her heart. They'd left only minutes ago blaming work for their early departure. But already it felt like years. She could barely recall her father's teasing grin and her mother's embarrassed frown. It scared her for some reason. As that cold vice tightened on her heart she compelled herself to fish the phone from her purse. Shivering with something that had nothing to do with cold, skittering away from thinking about what had happened earlier, she dialed her mom. Almost immediately Yuko picked up sounding more than confused.

"Chihiro? Did you forget something?"

All at once her mouth went dry and her pulse surged into her throat.

"N-no," she stammered hoarsely, gritting her teeth as again she was forced to lie, "I forgot to tell you something. I'm going to be hard to get a hold of for a while. I… I'm going on a writing retreat, okay? So don't worry if you don't hear from me, okay?"

Yuko uttered a short vacant laugh.

"You didn't have to call to tell me that, Chihiro. You hardly call as is."

Pulled off center, she panicked and launched into pleasantries.

"T-thanks for letting Kou come. It was nice to see you."

In the distance Akio yelled with enthusiasm.

"Is that Chihiro? Tell her to bring Kou any time!"

Yuko heaved a frustrated sigh, calling back at him irritably.

"Yes, it's Chihiro. Don't yell when I'm on the phone, dear. I can't hear."

After Yuko finished scolding her dad Sen found the silence between them stretching until it was painful. Sick of lying, she blurted the truth into the void just to make it stop. Her words escaped in a desperate hush that surprised her with just how much it was true.

"I love you mom. Tell dad I love him too."

Yuko made a surprised sound, flustering her way into another strained laugh.

"You're such a strange girl, sweet pea."

Sen closed her eyes and insisted with calm firm patience.

"Just tell him, okay?"

"Fine, fine. Don't make yourself late. You're the owner of a business now and you need to set a good example for your employees."

She could almost hear her mom waving her off.

Her heart thrilled into her throat as she realized Yuko was about to hang up.

Again she blurted her words desperate to have them heard unlike last time.

"Good bye, mom!"

"Mm-hm. Talk to you soon, Chihiro."

Then Yuko hung up. Sitting there with the phone still held to her ear, feeling that chilling void unfold and expand in her heart, Sen stared blankly at the soot sprite hanging from the rear view mirror. Then she dialed Lydia with shaking fingers. As her cell rang and rang and rang some more her insides scrambled uncomfortably; because once she'd gotten back into cell reception Sen had gotten a bazillion texts and messages from Lydia. Finally her personal assistant answered and it was obvious that she'd been asleep.

"Chihiro! Thank God! Are you okay!? Where are you?!"

Her assistant's concern set Sen's insides searing with shame. For all she knew Lydia had been in Asakasa or Ueno when the cavern collapsed. She could have been hurt; or worse.

"S-sorry I didn't call sooner… N-no, I'm not in Ueno. I'm in Gifu."

"G-Gifu?!"

Before Lydia could say anything else Sen launched into what she had to say.

"Look, I'm going away for a while. If anyone freaks out cover for me, okay? Look after Satako and Michio for me, okay?"

She could almost hear Lydia blinking in confusion on the other end.

"W-what do you mean you're going away? Where're you going?"

Sen uttered that bitter humorless laugh.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.

Again Lydia made a series of unintelligible sounds that Sen plowed through without hesitation. She'd accessed her Google Drive from her phone before she'd called her mom. Chihiro had kept a copy of all her files online and Sen was extremely grateful for that.

"I e-mailed you the second book. Read it. It'll explain what I can't. Gotta go."

"Chihiro, wait!"

As panic bloomed in Lydia's voice again she interrupted finding herself strangely calm.

"Thanks for everything. I mean it."

Sen hung up and turned her phone off before Lydia could call back. Then she returned the cell to her purse and produced the geihobako from the pocket in her voluminous trousers. These she'd bound around her shins with the thick bindings, lacing them tight with the traveling sandals Kuromi made for her out of spider silk. Once again she came up short, staring at the curling embroidery on the ancient sleeve as the outfit she'd found in geihobako nibbled her skin with the unnerving tingle of magic. It was all she had to wear after what happened last night, which made breakfast interesting. Kohaku had a similar problem. He'd lost his human clothes to fire just as she had. But somehow he managed to hide their appearance from her parents. If anyone could see them now they'd probably wonder if Toei Studios was filming a samurai movie somewhere close by.

Turning her attention back to the geihobako, she watched in unnerved awe as the box swallowed her purse whole even though it was impossible small. Shoving the thing back into her pocket, leaving the keys in the ignition, she popped the door and climbed out into the blast of frigid air. As she stood she sank to her ankles in the creaking powdery snow. But the thick padded jacket tightly belted around her waist and the layers of the soft undergarments below held back the cold unlike anything she'd ever worn. Even though only a single pair of tabi stood between her toes and the ice she couldn't feel the bite. But as the car dinged persistently she slammed the door harder than she intended because the calm she felt earlier was eroding.

Bracing her bare hands on the hood of the car Sen stared at the strange sleeves.

Following curling fire patterns stitched into the fabric as she struggled with despair.

It weighting her insides, falling like a sliding cascade of stones.

These she fought to order to stillness as she had the boulder in the canyon.

Startled, Sen glanced to the side as at the back of the car Kohaku pushed away from where he had been leaning against the edge of the trunk, giving her privacy and waiting patiently for her to finished her calls. All decked out in lacquered lamellar armor Kohaku looked straight out of Princess Mononoke, especially with Lin's sword belted to his waist. But his worried jade eyes belonged to an entirely different story. The cuts and gouges on the scales of his breastplate, the threads of silver flashing at the temples of his inky hair, and the deep lines tightening his handsome features captured the long and difficult chronology of that tale. But their story was nowhere finished. Before he could speak, before the sound of his voice unlocked the terrible flood pent up insider her heart, Sen mastered the emotions and produced the bath tile that lead back to the Onsen.

Kamaji's token glinted in the morning sun.

Glossy and wet, it looked like a handful of blood.

It held his unwavering gaze.

With fingers made rough by sharkskin gloves he silently accepted the bit of wood. Turning toward the power shed he placed the tile on the narrow door in its face. The tile snapped into place, sticking like a magnet. Turning the doorknob he pulled open the door. Again Sen shivered with nothing that had to do with cold. Over his shoulder she caught a glimpse of the kitchen. Megumi was flattened against the far wall as Kenka clung to her pale with terror. Pressed against the side of the range Jae clutched a spatula like a sword. Savory smells of breakfast wafted through the frame from behind him. Speaking across impossible distance Jae cursed explosively from the other side.

" _Jesus fucking Christ!"_

Kohaku jolted as Jae reached through the doorway and hauled him across.

All at once Kohaku had his hands in the air as if he was being held at gunpoint.

Shaking him physically, Jae bitched him out.

"Where _t'fuck_ were you, Kou!?"

Sen hurriedly crossed and shut the door, looking on in a loss. Jae obviously wasn't intimidated by Kouhaku's appearance. It was totally weird to hear him sound so awkward and sorry. It was equally weird to hear him called Kou again. It reminded her that these guys had a long and difficult chapter in their story.

"A-Apologies, Jae!" Kohaku stammered faintly, "T-things did not go according to plan!"

Jae was shaking him again, looking ready to sock him in the face.

"What _fuckin'_ plan you _fuckin'_ asshole! You were s'posed to come back last night!"

Kenka flooded forward to pull Jae away as he continued to gesture with his spatula.

"Dude! Calm down!"

Red faced and pissed, Jae struggled in Kenka's grip as the tall guy held him back.

"Get _t'fuck_ offa me, man! _I said get off!"_

"Enough!" Kohaku interjected in exasperation, "Why must we always fight!?"

Unfortunately she didn't have time for this. Sen skirted the scuffle, going unnoticed as Megumi took Jae's place at the stove wearing a long suffering expression, hastily saving things from burning. Kneeling by the bottom step she untied her sandals and darted out of the kitchen. Instantly Onsen was fluttering over her head like an anxious cloud of moths as she passed the empty great room and flew by the empty welcome station. The paper sliders parted ahead of her as the house struggled to capture her attention. Trying not to be mean, Sen pleaded with the ceiling in a bare whisper.

"Not now, okay?"

Gathering in an intense cloud over her head as if wanting to argue, the ethereal presence dissipated as Sen took the corner into the guest wing. But here her steps slowed as her pulse quickened with dread, throbbing up into her ears until it was all she could hear and feel. Standing there struggling to breathe Sen stared in confusion as the bell inside her heart tolled ominously. The door to Michio's room was open. The fact that she was up this early sent a thrill of apprehension swelling inside Sen's chest. Creeping forward, she hesitated then peered around the frame to look inside.

It took Sen a moment to realize the room was clean.

Everything was packed up in boxes again as if waiting to be moved.

Sitting with her back to the door was Michio.

Out of nowhere Sen saw again the flash of the image she'd seen in Sengen's mirror. Only now did she understand the vision. The shock of Michio's synthetic green hair was completely out of place amongst the pale beige paper, cool tatami colors, and the deep burnished woods. She was dressed like she was going to a punk rock funeral. Beside her was a Hangry & Angry backpack stuffed to bursting. As Sen took all of this in the same uncrossable void that opened between her and Yuko suddenly yawned between her and Michio. Again the bell tolled in her heart so loudly she shook with the sound. Stunned and horrified Sen opened her mouth only to have her voice fail. Then Michio interrupted her.

"I came with you thinking eventually you'd come to your senses. But you didn't."

Still staring forward with adamant resolve her best friend continued.

Feeling faint Sen clung to the frame listening to Michio's quiet, quiet voice.

"I don't care what you say, this didn't just happen. You _chose_ this! I didn't! I don't want to see any of this and that's my choice! You've already made yours and you're gonna have to live with what it costs because you can't have everything!"

Sen struggled to swallow but couldn't.

Her mind raced as she tried to think of something to do or say.

But she was left with nothing but her best friend's name.

"Michio…"

At once Michio slapped her hands over her ears.

"No. Chihiro's gone! You disappeared the moment you climbed out of that _fucking_ river and all along I just didn't want to admit it. You're that doppelganger bitch from the story and that's who you've always been! You're Sen _and I don't want to see you!_ "

The last hit her like a balled fist.

It knocked her backwards making her ring with an echoing silence.

Sen knew all too well she couldn't have everything even if Chihiro didn't.

Already Sen had been forced to reckon with the fact that in all choices there was a price.

Michio was right; she had chosen this just as Michio was making her own choice.

Sen had no right to deny her that, especially after what the fujo said.

By letting Michio go at least Sen could return some of what she'd inadvertedly stolen.

Like an opening dam that cold calm flooded her through with strangeness.

It drowned the screaming denial clawing at the insides of her heart, bring it to silence.

Out of that uncanny quiet Sen found a voice that didn't belong to her but always had.

Backing away from the door she cleared a path.

"Go through the door in the kitchen. Take the car. It's paid off and the keys are in the ignition. It's yours now. The keys to the Aoyama house are still attached. That's yours too."

Sen watched as if from another world as Michio took shaking hands from her ears.

Her friend's nobby knees shook violently as she stood and zipped her thin hoodie.

Picking up her backpack she threaded her skinny arms through the straps.

Then she stood there pigeon-toed forlornly as if reconsidering.

Michio flinched as Sen spoke again, this time commandingly in hopes of galvanizing her.

"If you ever need me you know how to find me. Go. Don't look back."

Because if she faltered, if she turned back, Sen wasn't sure she could let her go.

Then the goth ran.

She lowered her head and sprinted by without so much as looking.

Michio didn't pause as she bolted around the corner.

She didn't look back.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Reaching for him with obvious intent toward violence, Jae dragged Kenka forward still shouting wrathfully, spraying Haku flecks of spit. The male was wearing an indigo yukata over which he had tied a kitchen apron stained with work. On his brow he wore a folded kerchief that bore the pale curling white dragon that was Onsen's namesake.

Hurriedly Haku sidestepped as Jae hurled a spatula at him wildly pleased it was not a knife.

The cooking implement bounced off the wall and clattered on the blue-green tiles loudly.

Onsen shuddered indignantly.

But the humans were too fraught to notice the house's ire.

"We didn' know what _t'fuck_ happened, man! I thought you _died_ or somethin'! I ought t'break your face for _scarin'_ t'shit outta me!"

"A-Apologies, Jae!" Kohaku stammered again, stunned by the male's fervor.

"Your apologies don't mean _shit_ , man! _Do_ what you say you're _gonna do!"_

A bell rang over the din of shouting.

With startled squawks the males jolted backwards, flying apart as they scrambled backwards.

Kenka knocked against the kitchen sink and Jae sprawled onto the nook's table.

At once Haku was staring at Megumi.

She continued to flick one of Okesa's fans from side to side.

Swaying with it her compelling rhythm anchored the two males in place.

Glaring at them in abject exasperation she glanced at him only to lift her chin challengingly.

Haku's lips quirked and he bowed his head in recognition of her success.

"You learn quickly, Megumi-san."

As she threw the fan high, severing the spell, the males sagged.

Pale with fury, Jae shoved himself upright making the table jolt and skitter on the tiles.

Snatching the headband from his head he hurled it at the ground along with his apron.

" _Fuck you, Meg!"_ He spat viciously before stabbing a finger at him, _"Fuck you too, Kou!"_

With that he thundered up the back stairs into the second story.

"Let him go."

Haku had not realized he was following until Kenka caught his arm.

"Dude… What're you wearing?"

Taking back his hand the tall male finally looked him up and down as if finally seeing him. His face went pale as he stared at the gouges scored across his breastplate. It went paler still as he gawked at Hanoane where she was buckled to his side.

"N-nevermind… I… I think I figure it out."

Backing away a few steps, Kenka hurriedly returned to scaling fish in the sink.

"So what did happen last night?" Megumi demanded tersely as she tucked the folded fan into the tightly tied band encircling her middle as she flipped a pancake in the skillet. Haku stared between them wordlessly, noting both wore Onsen's yukata like uniforms. As he cast about he realized Chihiro was gone. Torn and distracted he sank onto the bench in the nook and explained poorly.

"Explosions, landslides, demons, and pain."

Haku cringed from their attention as they stopped their work to stare in astonishment.

"Before or after you met Chihiro's parents!?" Megumi demanded quietly.

Awkwardly Haku picked at the lacings of his vambrace.

"After."

"At their house!?" Kenka interjected in horror.

"No, no!" He reassured him while gesturing meaninglessly, "In the hills beyond."

Megumi and Kenka glanced at each other in wordless alarm. Thankfully they did not question him further on the matter. It was here that Haku noticed Karasu's hat where it sat atop the table. All sound seemed to flee the world as he snatched up the battered black bowler. He was on his feet as a violent wind went tearing around the room making the slider rattled in its tracks.

"What is this doing here!" He demanded furiously.

Both Megumi and Kenka startled, shrinking into each other staring at him askance.

"D-dunno, dude. It was there this morning."

"Where is Bozu!?"

"I… I don't know," Megumi answered at a loss.

Kenka took a step towards him.

"You okay, dude?"

Haku jerked backwards in fright catching air as Michio threw herself through the split curtain. The ill-tempered female was the last person he hoped to see in this moment. But as he settled against the wall beside the stairs leading to the second story Haku knew instinctively that something was wrong. She almost fell as she barreled down the short flight of stairs, making the oversized pack on her back jostle and rattle. Ignoring them all she lurched for the back door and threw down her shoes. Shoving her feet into the ridiculously high heels, she tore the back slider open only to recoil with a face twisted by terror. Magic surged and crackled, revealing the pristine white hill at the base of the Ogino's house. Cold surged through the open door along with the bright winter sunlight, flooding the kitchen with the muted mineral scent of snow. Through the portal Haku could see the vehicle Chihiro had parked beside the shed.

Without a word or a glance Michio hurled herself across.

Still holding Karasu's hat Haku watched in stunned silence as the female waded through the snow, ripped the driver's side door open, then threw herself into the car. If it had been anyone else he would have tried to stop them. But all he could do was stare as the engine roared to life. The tires spun in the snow only to catch. The vehicle tore great ruts in the unblemished snow as it dragged itself backwards. Haku stood, drifting to the doorway to watch as it to skid to a halt. Tires spinning again in the deep snow, finally the car plowed forward. Still Michio refused to look at him as she careened by the shed. Snow sprayed through the open portal as the car roared by splattering the blue-green tiles. Onsen shuddered violently then slammed the portal shut right in his face. As Haku retreated a few steps the kitchen seemed terribly dark and cold as the sunlight from beyond abruptly blotted out.

Again they were left listening to naught but the sounds of the hissing gas burners.

And the eddying whisper that was the wind of his disquiet.


	25. Chapter 25

**CHIHIRO**

Sen stood there for a long moment trying to decide what she was feeling.

Chihiro would've been wailing and screaming and crying.

But then again Chihiro was a spoiled child who thought she could have everything.

Sen, however, was surprised that she could stand the loss of her best friend.

But then again Sen was getting used to losing things.

Staring at where Michio had disappeared Sen listened to the silence filling the hall.

It didn't last long.

The walls of the house were terribly thin. It made snooping super easy.

Apparently Satako took after her in this respect.

"That's Chihiro's voice, mom!"

The girl hissed beneath her breath from behind one of the sliding doors down the hall.

"Shhh! I don't think you should bother her right now, sweetheart."

Mrs. Tanaka hushed back diplomatically. It was obvious that Minako had overheard everything that happened between her and Michio. For her sake she was trying to control her daughter; but Satako was a force to be reckoned with and she argued forcefully.

"This's the last time I'm gonna see Chihiro for a while, mom! Onsen said so!"

Sen flashed a frown at the ceiling, more than annoyed with the house for meddling. Sounds of scuffling emanated from the room before the door yanked open without so much as being touched. Bright pink with cheer Chouchin darted ahead of Satako, illuminating the girl's way as she clambered out of the room on hands and knees. Dressed in one of Onsen's indigo yukata, thoroughly disheveled from sleep, Satako wasn't wearing her wig. Sen's insides tightened with cold as she stared at the cruel scar that climbed across the little girl's skull. But the black fuzz of her hair was beginning to grow back now that she was done with chemo.

"Satako! _Satako!_ "

More than frazzled, Minako chased after her daughter, catching her and pulling her upright. Wearing one of Onsen's yukata, the brittle woman struggled to keep the front from gaping as she threw her gaze down the hall. Both Satako and her mother froze as they caught sight of her. Even Chouchin came up short, guttering white in surprise.

"Wow!" Satako cried in delight, "You look so _cool,_ Chihiro! Do I get one of those outfits too?"

Suddenly a shadow passed over Minako's face.

Sen saw it clearly.

She knew it for what it was as the woman's arms tightened around her daughter.

Fear: sharp as a knife it cut across Mrs. Tanaka's features.

All at once the fujo's words returned to haunt her leaving her sick with guilt.

She had to clear her throat before she could manage to force herself to be cheerful.

"Saka-chan, will you give me and your mom a moment?

Before she could argue Sen offered something Satako couldn't refuse.

"Kohaku's in the kitchen. I'm sure he wants to see you."

Instantly the girl's face lit up like a summer sparkler.

"Really!?"

She lurched out of her mother's grip and was down the hall beckoning the lantern.

"Come on, Cho-Cho!"

Chouchin darted after the girl dancing and gyrating happily. Sen found she was smirking and as they disappeared around the bend the house gave a sympathetic settling snap. But her smile disappeared as Minako jerked in surprise, shrinking from the rafters and the walls as all the color drained from her face. Undisguised terror pinched the features of the thin woman threw her attention back at her. Gods, she was so skinny! Sen could see her collarbones clearly. It was like worrying was eating the poor thing alive. It vibrated in her very being from the tips of her tiny toes to the top of her messy knotted bun.

"I… I think I understand now what Satako meant when she said you were sleeping."

Sen blinked, finding she was frowning in surprise. She and Mrs. Tanaka had met on several occasions over the past six months; first here at the Onsen; following that many times at the Kodansha offices, and of course at the hospital where Satako was being treated. Sen hadn't realized until now that Minako knew far more about her circumstances than she let on. Clasping her hands tightly, Satako's mother looked her up and down with evasive glances.

"Is t-this who you really are, Ogino-san?"

Sen forced herself not to fidget.

"Yeah, but I'm only just now figuring this out."

Suddenly Minako looked faint as she forced herself to speak.

"When we came here everything _changed!_ "

She breathed the word like a prayer: full of awe and trepidation.

Change: that seemed to be the word of the day.

"I know it's because of you and I want to know why you chose my daughter."

Sen looked back at the bend of the hallway as the truth slipped out of her.

"When I look at Satako I see myself."

That didn't satisfy Minako in the slightest.

"W-what did Michio mean when she said you disappeared?"

Lifting a hand to her chest Sen closed her hand around Kohaku's scale.

"I was supposed to die in that river. I would've drowned, but he saved me. My life came at a price. From that moment onward I belonged to the Gods even though I didn't realize it. I think that's why I've been able to make it this far after everything that's happened."

Again Minako's question came sharp like a jabbing knife blade.

"What does that mean for Satako!?"

Regardless of what was possible and impossible between her and Kohaku, how could she tell this woman to her face she was going to steal her daughter!? But how could she lie and say otherwise!? Sen cringed as she danced around the damning revelation the fujo had forced onto her hands. And so she settled on a half-truth, withholding some in hopes of softening the blow.

"I chose Satako that way Kohaku chose me. Now she can never have a normal life. She's going to grow up to be just like me."

Burning with shame so strong it was a wonder she didn't burst into flames Sen forced herself to look at Minako. Again surprise dumped a bucket of cold shock over her shoulders as she watched the brittle woman marshal through her terror. As Minako stood tall and lifted her chin Sen realized the woman's eyes were turning pale like the rest of the humans they'd collected here.

"I don't care what she becomes as long as she lives and she's happy."

Sen blinked and blinked and blinked some more. Minako reminded her of Usagi in that moment. The rabbit had the same tremulous courage. The two of them would really get along. That gave her an idea in a stunning flash. Perhaps again she could give back some of what she'd unknowingly taken?

"I'd like to offer you a job, Minako-san."

The brittle woman's head jerked up as her pinched features cleared with shock. Hurriedly Sen continued to explain with persuasive cheer.

"I don't care if you don't have any experience. Natsumi will teach you anything you need to know. You don't even have to live here. You could get a place in town. I'm sure Naniko will help you find something."

For some reason the woman bowed her head as her lips drew into a thin grim line.

"If only it was that easy…"

Stymied, before Sen could ask why Minako revealed a difficult truth.

"My husband and I are getting a divorce."

Astonished, Sen found she was gaping. She'd met Dr. Tanaka a couple of times. He seemed like a really nice guy. Minako's face was bright red with humiliation as she continued to explain, smoothing her ragged hair with her thin fingers. But as she did her face hardened.

"My husband is an Oncologist, Ogino-san. He has devoted his entire career to treating children with cancer at the expense of his family. I made my peace with that because as a result he has risen to the top of his field and has been able to help many people. But you can imagine his anguish when our little girl was diagnosed with an aggressive advanced malignant tumor."

She gestured to herself.

"Susumu isn't like me, Ogino-san. He's all science with no room for mystery. He knew from the beginning what Satako's chances were and he was very clear with me about that fact. Susumu doesn't believe in miracles, which is why he kept doing more and more tests on Satako even though she was clearly recovering. He's so afraid she's going to relapse he can't be happy with the fact that she's getting better."

Anger flared in her pale features.

"He keeps bringing her to see more and more specialists. He's gotten second and third and fourth opinions. The tests are _hurting_ Satako! Being in the hospitals all the time is making her _sick_! I refuse to let him drag her though this again!"

Again she bent and went grim with indignation.

"He's fighting for custody on the basis that I'm an unfit mother. This from the man who's turned his back on us for his work for the past ten years."

Sen continued to stare blankly at Mrs. Tanaka. This was a thoroughly _human_ problem so far outside her sphere of experience she had no idea what to say. And so she offered something Godish in hopes that it would explain just how little all this mattered.

"Satako belongs to the Kami now, Minako-san. Even your husband can't stop that."

A flicker of fear returned to the woman's face.

But with it came a glimmer of hope.

Before she could ask anymore question Sen hurriedly gestured for the hall.

"C'mon. Let's get you some breakfast. Whatever they're cooking smells awesome."

* * *

 **HAKU**

"What the hell just happened?!"

Haku was not sure who spoke.

It could have been either Kenka or Megumi.

He was not sure how long he stood there staring at the back door.

Premonition hung over him like a heavy snow laden cloud.

And his hammering heart succeeded in pumping ice through his veins.

Because something had changed; something that was both great and grave.

He had felt its beginnings most keenly the moment they arrived at the Ogino's home.

Now, whatever it was, Haku felt it snap into place within his soul.

It shook him with the distant aftershock of something much larger.

But before he consider it further Chouchin darted into the kitchen.

Whizzing round the rafters one, then two, then three times before she erupted into brilliant pink light as she saw him. Whirling away from the door Haku yelped as the lantern dove at him, knocking him back into the slider. He was forced to drop Karasu's hat in order to catch her in his arms. The lantern towed him off the ground in brightly sparking exuberance. Gritting his teeth as a flash of pain surged through his forearm, Haku held on out of instinct as his feet left the floor. All this Kenka and Megumi watched in open mouthed silence only to shoot their attention back toward the front hall as Satako squealed in glee that matched Chouchin's as she came sprinting through the kitchen curtain.

" _Haku! Haku! Haku!"_

Scrambling down the stairs on hands and knees she lurched for him only to seize his pants leg. Pulling with all her might she tried to bring him back to earth scolding the lantern. Chouchin flared an angry red, struggling higher obviously not wishing to share.

"Let him down, Cho-Cho! It's my turn to hug him!"

Here Satako grew distracted as she found Karasu's hat. Picking it up, she frowned at the bowler and dusted it off. Haku released the lantern and drifted to the floor on another gust of wind only to catch the hat as the gale snatched it from Satako's fingers. She nearly knocked him from his feet as she threw herself at his middle, hugging him with all the strength her tiny arms could muster.

"Yay! You found Mr. Bozu's hat!"

Haku glanced down at her sharply stunned by the revelation.

"W-what?"

"Onsen said Mr. Bozu left it here for you when he went back to Ueno last night. He wants you to take care of the hat for now but says he wants it back someday."

Haku stared askance at the battered bowler. Seeing it now made it impossible not to see Karasu. He had not thought of the crow for a long while. Now that he held his little brother's hat in his hands easily he recalled the young god; the easy flash of his smile; his strange habit of perching; his obsession with shiny things. Oh, such terrible, _terrible_ grief consumed him as he saw his brother in his mind's eye and knew he would never see him again! Finally Haku forced himself to place the hat on his head. He knew not else what to do with it. The hat fit well, and he hardly noticed the tears until they ran down his cheeks. Flickering a sad solemn blue, Chouchin sank to his shoulder and softly bumped the side of his head. He pressed the lantern to his cheek, bumping her back in silent thanks for her comfort.

"Are you crying? Don't cry, Haku."

As Satako yanked on the front of his armor he sank to one knee. Sorrow held him still even as she threw her arms around his neck looking him over as if trying to find some hurt she could mend. Unfortunately there was no mending this hurt. He would carry the wound in his heart always.

"It is nothing, Satako."

Frowning unhappily, she dabbed at his face with a corner of his sleeve.

"It has to be something otherwise you wouldn't be upset."

Haku flashed a wan smile and stilled her hands.

"Where is Chihiro?"

The human child nodded at the kitchen curtain.

"She 'n' mom are talking. Chihiro said I should come see you."

Haku found himself frowning at the front stairs. He hurriedly searched for a way to distract the child.

"Will you go let the other kami know that Chihiro and I will be leaving soon?"

"But you just got here!"

He gently disengaged himself even as her tiny hands tightened like vices.

"Please, dear Satako? We have not much time."

She drooped unhappily but nodded.

"Kay…"

Lifting his eyes to the lantern, Haku hoped the light understood his veiled plea.

"Stay with her, dear Chouchin?"

The light sputtered white as if surprised before she dipped in rosy acknowledgement. Even though he could feel the weight of Megumi and Kenka's eyes he avoided their pointed stares. He was on his feet and out of the kitchen in a movement so quick he set a wind chasing down the corridor as he came up short in front of Chihiro and Minako. As the wind poured around them Satako's mother gasped in shock. Catching himself on the tips of his toes Haku rocked backwards onto his heels only to bow automatically.

"Apologies, Tanaka-san. I did not mean to frighten you."

White faced and wide eyed, she bowed just automatically only to bow again. Haku blinked then returned her bow not wanting to appear rude. Before she could bow again and he in awkward return Chihiro gently ushered the human female past him to the split curtain.

"Think about my offer, okay?"

Minako hesitated, glancing back at him before nodding. As she disappeared through the curtain into the kitchen Chihiro stood with her back to him. It took him a moment to realize she was avoiding looking at him.

"What has happened, dear one?"

She sighed grimly.

"I gave back some of what I stole."

Ah. So that was it. Slowly his premonition and Michio's flight began to make sense. But before he could offer her comfort she turned, frowning at his head quizzically.

"Nice hat."

Haku balked a moment then reluctantly explained its appearance.

"It belonged to a friend."

"Bozu, right?"

Gritting his teeth he was forced to tell truth even as grief threatened him.

"No. A young crow who called me brother."

Chihiro was back to frowning at the hat.

"Oh… How'd Bozu get it?"

"Bozu was always trying to steal this hat from Karasu."

"Why'd he let him have it?"

Haku choked as finally sorrow overwhelmed him.

"Karasu is dead. May we not speak of him anymore?"

"I-I'm so sorry!"

Stunned and horrified, as she came to him he held her at bay with a single shaking hand. Dropping his gaze he hid his face beneath the brim of the hat as his sight blurred. All the while Haku fought to regain control of himself.

"It is not your fault, dear one," he breathed through thick misery, "The grief is still new to me and I handle his loss poorly. Come, dear one."

Beckoning to Chihiro he retreated down the hall and turned into the great room. At once he appealed to the ceiling knowing she was there.

"Will you open your coffers to us, dear Onsen?

The floor gave a settling snap and seconds later the phantom cabinets opened out of every wall as if they had always been found here. The soft squeals of their hinges echoed throughout the room in a chorus of brass fittings as their heavy inlaid doors opened as if attended by hundreds of invisible hands. Out of each spilled wondrous treasures beyond imagine for the house kept a store of magic that crossed between both worlds. The spicy scent of camphor and the vibrating thrill of age rolled out among the offered goods as heavy gold and silver embroidered kimono, glinting pottery and lacquerware, paintings, and weapons gleamed and winked in the dim morning light filtering through the opaque paper sliders drawn on the garden to keep out the cold.

"Wow…!" Chihiro breathed in amazement at his back.

Glancing back at her he found her clinging to the archway gazing inside with eyes so large he could see the whites all the way round. Gawking and craning her neck she crept into the great room only to turn in a circle so she might take in all of the house's wealth. Whispering beneath her breath she lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

"I always wondered where you kept all your cool stuff."

While the house creaked and popped as if pleased with herself, Haku turned his attention to the armaments. Coming over to a series of floor to ceiling cabinets he browsed the collection pole weapons. Bows and other projectile weapons hung from adjacent hooks. As he continued to inspect the collection he found a rack of swords of all thicknesses and lengths then finally found drawers and chests full of breast plates, pauldrons, quises, gloves, shin guards, and helmet upon helmet of every size, shape, and color he sought equipment that would suit both Chihiro's height and frame. Though they were obviously old the trappings of battle showed no sign of rot or wear. They vibrated with the same strange magic that enchanted mortal object he bore with gratitude.

He found her peering over his shoulder curiously.

"Is this where you got your uh… all _that_ from?"

He nodded absently.

"Onsen has gifted me many things of great use. Arms up."

Chihiro stood to attention as he held out a light vest of lacquered plates in hopes that it might fit her. It was woven of stout black cord complete with waist and shoulder drapes. Though not a set of full plates as he bore, it would provide adequate protection against both blade and bow. Moreover, it was light and would permit agility. Chihiro frowned askance at the armor and laughed uncertainly.

"Um… Is this really necessary?"

As he unlaced the gap at the side of the vest he nodded solemnly.

"You will find Clock Tower Town much changed, dear one. For your hair."

Grimacing unhappily, she accepted the indigo kerchief Haku offered. After tying back it tightly she wiggled into the plates as he kneeled at her feet. Crouching there he tugged the vest into place and laced it lightly, loosening the other seams in several places so that he could fit it to the shape of her body. Holding out her arms and standing like an unhappy scarecrow she glanced at him again and again with increasing uncertainty. Finished with the fitting, he glanced up at her questioningly.

"How does it feel?"

"Weird," she muttered before bending and twisting awkwardly, "But okay I suppose."

He knocked on the solid shaped plate over her breast before lifting to his feet.

"Try not to set fire to this."

She snorted irritably, following as he turned back to the cabinets.

"You make that sound so easy."

Next Haku fitted her with bracers that would keep a bow string from bruising her arm and gloves to lessen the blistered. Darting away only to return with more accoutrements, across her chest he buckled a quiver only to have her protest.

"I can keep my bow in my pocket."

Gently he encouraged otherwise while placing a hand on Hanoane.

"You will want a weapon at hand, dear one, not secreted away."

She blinked rapidly as was her habit then her frown became a scowl. But in producing her bow hand after hand from her pocket she had to maneuver it awkwardly around the leg drapes. Suddenly seeing the merit in his suggestion she slid the unstrung length of supple burnished wood into the case at her back along with the headless ceremonial arrow. His insides scrambled and he gritted his teeth as she produced the handle of bells festooned with ribbons.

"That, perhaps, would be best kept out of sight."

She blinked at it before returning the suzu to hiding.

"Oh… Right. What about this?"

As she held up Sengen's blade Haku threw himself aside hissing between his teeth.

"That as well! Put it away at once!"

She did as he requested only to frown at him in confusion as he yanked the jewel from under his breastplate coming forward and holding it out insistently.

"Take this back! I cannot remove it myself!"

Even as she reached for it, even as she took it in her hands as if making ready to lift it free, Chihiro fell still as her face became a stunned mask of surprise.

"I can't."

Lifting her stunned gaze, her face tightened as if she was hearing something distant.

"I… I think he wants you to have it?"

Haku knew exactly the _he_ Chihiro was. Whirling away Haku tugged on the chain savagely hoping to snap the links so he could hurl the thing aside. He succeeded only in bruising the back of his neck as the chain would not break. Growling in frustration he threw up his hands in a fit of fury.

"I _do not_ want _his_ help!"

Somewhere at his back she uttered a short humorless laugh.

"Look. We can take all the help we can get."

Flashing an irritated moue he returned to her side only to be shoved aside as Okesa forced her way between them. Haku startled as the cat's appearance took him by surprise. Dressed from head to toe in black, she wore the same tabi, voluminous trousers, gloves, and tightly fitted coat she favored during their previous time spent in Clock Tower Town. Though he knew it would be useless to entreat the cat to wear plate or male Haku did not need to beseech Okesa to take up arms. Ignoring them completely the cat browsed the weapons cabinet the way a human might peruse department store windows. But her enthusiasm curtailed as she flattened her ears and lashed her tail.

" _Tch!_ Stinks like _blood_ …"

Here the cat spun on her heel to squat and review the fitting job Haku had done on her breastplate. He watched in silent satisfaction as Okesa could find no error in his work. As the cat darted back to dig in the chest of armor, Chihiro watched Okesa cat wriggle and buckle herself into a black set of red laced plates with expert swiftness.

"How d'you know so much about all this?"

The cat briefly flicked her ruby gaze at Chihiro before pulling on fingerless gloves.

"Aye's lived ah long time 'mong _humans_ 'n' one t'ing aye's learned is they's powerful fond o' fightin' wit' each other, neh? Got's t'speak t'languge o' t'locals if aye wants t'git fed."

Here the cat selected a knife sheathed in a smooth lacquered scabbard carved without adornment. To him it was barely more than a dagger, but in her hands it looked like a short sword. This she secured to her back with the tight sash wound round her tiny, tiny waist. Muffled in the waistband winked her many fans. He counted three red and recalled that Megumi held in her possession a fourth. However, Haku's blood ran cold as he counted the fifth. He stared at the black fan knowing the sixth and final still remained in Shurui's possession.

"Why d'you want a knife if you have fans?"

Again Okesa glanced at Chihiro as if she had asked a stupid question. Then cat turned and jabbed her repeatedly in the breastplate with the haft of a folded fan. Though it was a harmless gesture she moved so fast he did not see her, reminding him just how deadly she could be. As Chihiro recoiled in surprise Okesa grinned sharp yellowed teeth and winked.

"Kinda hard t'poke ah hole wit' ah bit o' wood 'n' paper, neh?"

Pale and unnerved, Chihiro cast her eyes back over the weapons.

"Where'd all _this_ come from anyway?"

Haku startled backwards until he knocked against the wall under the kamidana and the cat shrank behind Chihiro with hiss as Suzume spoke up mildly from beside them.

"Long ago the law alone was not enough to dissuade humans from committing crimes."

As his heart thrilled up into his throat on a spike of anxiety, Haku glanced from the corner of his eyes and found the fox leaning against the great hall archway white as a ghost. But Suzume ignored him. Looking away as if unconcerned he continued to explain distantly.

"A household was expected to possess the means to protect itself."

Glancing back at the store Haku realized all bore the same insignia: trefoil sheaves of rice. The mark of O-Inari-sama was unspoken but strong. With an increasing sense of sorrow Haku was forced to recognize that there was enough armor here to suit at least a dozen humans. If only they had been so prepared when the spiders invaded! It was a bitter useless thought because in spite of this store none of the Nikkou family survived this world. But even as one line ended another began. In their care the house survived. He, the cat, the fox, and Chihiro now stood to take up arms in defense of their family. Haku and the cat watched in silence as Suzume came to stand over Chihiro. As he took stock of her arrow and bow the fox frowned her up and down as if distantly annoyed.

"Where is the knife?" Suzume demanded shortly.

Haku ground his teeth as she produced it from her pocket. He forced himself to hold back a protest at the fox plucked it from her fingers only to secure it at her side with a solid length of blue procured from the cabinets. The blade was terribly dangerous, as much to her as so others. Seeing it tied at her side froze his insides with apprehension. The fox, however, had not finished his inspection.

"And the mask?"

Scrambling a hand at her side Chihiro held something out. Snatching it from her fingers Suzume roughly fitted it over her face only to take a step back looking her up and down discerningly.

"You look God enough," Suzume pronounced finally, "It will do."

And it was true. Stunned, Haku found himself staring at the phoenix's face as it glinted like umber gold in the dim dawn light. The face flashed like fire in the gloom. Dressed in her age old garments and the armor of her adopted family, steeped in magic that vibrated in the very threads of her silver hair, had he not known better Haku would have called her Kami. Then the fox turned his back on her, sweeping from the room like an angry specter. In his wake the Bath House kami flooded the archway with the sea of their worried faces. Over their heads Chouchin drifted a sullen blue. Natsumi shuffled forward from the midst of their family. Bowing low and solemn, she offered Chihiro a small tray. On it was a hand-stitched pouch. Haku recognized the pink fabric immediately. It came from one of Yubaba's bath house uniforms.

"This is the last of the Aburaya bath salts. May they soothe and serve you well on your journey. May they remind you of us. May that memory bring all of you home to us safely."

 _All of you_ ; the words rang in his years like the toll of a bell.

Haku bent beneath the weight as he fought to carry them.

Pushing up her mask Chihiro stared at the bag for a long moment.

Then with shaking hands she accepted the gift and bowed wordlessly.

Natusmi retreated beneath the silent weight of sorrow, scooting aside as the Gods parted.

Chihiro hesitated a moment then hurried from the room.

Pulling on his tatter cloak and mask he was forced to follow.

Hating every step Haku found it difficult to see the faces of his dear friends as he passed.

Haku feared he might never see them again.

Despair robbed him of his senses, weighing and encumbering every step.

He went as it dreaming; through the curtain; down the stairs onto the green tiles.

Here his sandals waited and he knelt to tie them with wooden hands.

Standing at the base he breathed in the sweet spicy smell of camphor and cedar.

Each breath caught in his throat making him desperate to take another.

Hidden in the humid air he could feel the distant green bite of sea salt.

This was the smell of home and he did not want to leave!

Lifting his eyes she stared at the blank faces of the humans whom he had stolen.

Megumi and Kenka regarded him with in terror as it took a moment for them to see him.

Jae was still missing and Haku felt his absence keenly.

But Satako's absence nearly cost him what little strength he had left.

He could hear her screeching in protest on the back porch amidst her mother's soothing.

Then Chihiro took his hand as he had taken hers all those years ago in another world.

She laced her fingers through his and pulled him forward.

Following in her shadow he shuddered as they crossed in a crackling spray of magic.

Back out into the blinding snow; into the stunningly cold bright.

His heels jarred on the hard cobbles of the road hidden beneath the ice.

And his heart sank as the sun blotted behind the thick bare branches of the hinoki.

The cold remained in his chest as they sprinted into the thickening wood.

Through that forest of beginnings and endings they ran as if chased.

Because here they had met and parted many times before.

Haku hardly noticed Okesa and Suzume as they joined the periphery of his vision.

Already his eyes were looking ahead, seeking that faded wall of forgotten red.

With dizzying astonishment he found it all too soon.

Ever unchanged the tunnel gaped open as if waiting to devour them whole.

And even as he rushed towards doom Haku's steps quickened.

Somewhere in the beyond, he would find Lin and Kubi.

This was the first step he would take in this impossible journey.

The stone guardian swaddled in snow laughed at them in silence as they passed.

His heart lurched up into his mouth as into that mouth of madness they sprinted.

And his hand tightened on her as they darted forward into the swallowing dark.

Side-by-side they crossed from one world to the next.


	26. Chapter 26

**SEN**

Her throbbing pulse thundered in her ears until the force of it robbed the world of sound.

She ran as fast as she could to keep up with Kohaku.

Propelled by a wind of his making, her feet barely touched the ground.

And then they ceased to touch at all.

Dizzy with speed Sen clung to his gauntleted hand, screwing her eyes shut as they dove into the darkness brimming out of the tunnel like unfathomable water. Her insides seized and scrambled as black enveloped them in a cold of another kind. It poured over her like a curtain of ice, permeating even her armor and clothes until it crawled across her skin. At once the scar on her thigh and the new mark at her shoulder burned with familiar frigid pain. Grinding her teeth, she endured the sensation of magic. Sen forced her eyes open against the screaming wind of their passing. Her insides thrilled as far ahead she saw almost unperceivable light. But as she did the bell in her heart rang sonorously.

Blades of sight cut through the utter black blinding her with premonition.

Again she was forced to see in bits and snags what Sengen has shown her.

In a smear of crimson a wide red bridge lifted out of the gray sea of nothing.

She stared numbly at the polished wood boards sprang up beneath her feet.

They snapped and creaked with unnerving bone-rattling pops as they suddenly bore her weight.

Cringing back, Sen gaped as a massive structure folded up overhead out of the mists.

The Bath House bent forward, leaning over her at an impossible angle.

She screamed soundlessly, dragged forward against her will.

As if summoned by Yubaba's ghost the tips of her toes skated across the boards in lines of fire.

And all at once she flew through a familiar set of doors, hurled into the witch's office.

She dumped forward, her face skidding across the rough tongue of the familiar rug.

Inches from her nose, she could see the curling patterns woven into the rug.

But they were red; all red.

Her insides twisted in mad mounting horror as she found the bristled beneath her cheek sticky.

Stained with wet warmth, her hands scrambled uselessly against the floor.

It was on her lips; in her mouth; again she tasted the sick metallic flavor of death.

Again she was forced to into hell.

Because Sen had seen all this before; but never had she seen it with this much clarity.

Stabbing, blinding, terrible dread robbed her of all strength.

Because something was lying on the ground beside her.

No. Not a something. Someone.

Soundlessly Sen screamed as she refused to look.

But even as she looked away, even as she tried not to see anything at all, Sen saw Lin.

The terrible vision froze in place with a stunning shock as their eyes met.

Helplessly they stared at each other.

Then the room detonated into an inferno of hungry licking flames.

Sen gasped as at once the vision was gone, staggering on uneven ground as premonition left her lightheaded in the grip of a devouring swell of anguish. The heat of the fire still crawled across her face, choking her lungs with cloying smoke as her skin sang with imagined pain. Chihiro's knees would've buckled. Chihiro would've fallen to the ground bawling like a child. But Sen held her breath against the scream echoing inside her head. Dragged forward again, she forced herself to follow as Kohaku towed her through a wide archway into a splash of intense light. Blue, yellow, red and green: the incandescent color bloomed like a four-petaled flower. And beyond the interior of the station she could see the dim gray sky through the open doors and windows. The familiar tiled roves and stucco walls gleamed in and out of the thick mists gathered there as if drowsing.

Clock Tower Town loomed sleepily through the veil of vapor like one of her premonitions.

After all these years she was back; back in this place of beginnings and endings.

She, however, was too full of rage to feel anything happy about her return.

Sen fought the sensation of helplessness the vision had painted across the insides of her mind in a thick oil slick she couldn't shake off. Almost as if it was soaking her through and weighing her down like Sengen's vicious salt water had soaked her through, Kohaku began to slow. As they exited onto the narrow empty street cut in half by the shadow of the tower overhead Sen quickly passed him. Still gripping his hand in hers Sen hauled him forward making his arm yank taut. Even as her newly mended shoulder protested with pain, still she pulled. Startled, he stumbled behind her, following closely as they plunged between the thick shadows gathered between the narrow leaning buildings. Gathering momentum on the sharply sloped cobbles, Sen sprinted across the packed sand shore. She ignored the startled yelps of a pair of haori clad yokai smoking pipes on the stone wharf's edge.

The night river was sleeping.

Ahead an ocean of undulating grass whispered in the mist instead of a black mirror of water.

Sen had pulled Kohaku halfway across before he began to resist.

"Chihiro!"

He sounded seriously scared as he called out to her again.

" _Chihiro, stop!"_

But she didn't stop. Not even after his hand ripped from hers. Sen ran even as her legs trembled with exertion because her armor was seriously heavy. But she hardly felt the weight; because Hidé's words echoed inside her head like the sound of the ocean inside a shell. Fate wasn't written in stone. And so instead of running from her nightmares she ran straight toward them. Because maybe; just maybe if they got there early enough; may they could change what she'd seen. And so she clambered across the moss slick boulders gathered at the foot of the worn stone stairs just as she had all those years past. Slipping on some mud, she fell only to climb on hands and knees like a child; past the stone lantern; catching hold of the arm of the weeping granite frog guarding their crest she hauled herself upright.

It was here that Kohaku caught her.

Here, at the top of the stairs where they had parted 10 years ago.

Here where he had told her not to look back.

Hastily he yanked back his hands with a sharp intake. Sen startled and slipped, sprawling on the top step in a clank and clatter of plates only to realize her body was issuing thick plumes of white. Steam escaped from the cracks in her armor as the fire in her gut raged. It rose to match the snarl of emotion stoked in her heart by the dooming vision she'd seen. Smoke curled from her lips as she struggled to catch her breath, struggling to keep a hold on the fire. Scrambling upright she paced back and forth on the top step. Keeping his distance, Kohaku watched her silently. And she was glad for the phoenix mask hiding her face because she wasn't sure what he would've seen in that moment.

He knew she'd seen his death.

But she didn't want her face to betray that she'd seen it again.

Gripping her hands into tight fists, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Not even as he stepped into her path with all the slow grace of a summer wind. Sen skidded to a halt, staring stupidly at the deep dents and gouges in the blue lacquered barrel of his chest armor even. Equally slow, as if he had all the time in the world, Kohaku pushed up his mask and took off Karasu's bowler hat. As they dissolved into the secret folds of his tatter cloak Kohaku's jade eyes caught in the filtered light like flashes of abalone. She cringed through the thinning veil of steam as he reached out to tilt back her mask. Gently, ever so gently, he tilted her chin up with his gauntleted hand. He didn't so much as flinch as his fingertips fizzled against her cheek! The smell of burning leather made her sick to her stomach. Gritting her teeth as the sound, she fought the angry furnace of her heart. It swelled in her chest until it felt like she was going to burst into flames like Yubaba' office. But then she was glad for the fire; because tears boiled up from her cheeks in thin slips of steam before they could betray her.

"Sen."

Her name on his lips, low and soft, struck the bell in her heart with a firm blow.

And as she rang silently, finally she was forced to look.

His firefly eyes swallowed her whole as she did.

In spite of all her resistance he saw through her all the same.

As he turned pale a shadow of fear crossed his face like a dark cloud over her heart.

But then it collected into a grim and terrible expression of calm understanding.

It made him into a God again; the cold inscrutable Haku from long ago.

And that look _scared the shit out of her_ because it pulled him _thousands_ of miles away!

Here Sen gasped as a gust of frigid wind soaked through with the scent of rain. It guttered her fire until the flames extinguished entirely, smothered as his eyes softened with such an expression of affection. Stunned to stillness, she watched the emotion washed through all the hard angles of his devastating face transforming him back into the man she knew. Kohaku leaned closer, collecting her shoulders into his hands with slow careful movements, like he was worried he might scare her somehow. Her heart surged into her throat, senses swimming in his sweet rain-soaked scent as his gentle grip sent a thrill skating through her body. Shivering, Sen's eyelids fluttered as the inky black fringe of his hair flew about in his wind only to tickle her face. Then he murmured the same quiet consoling words he had all those years ago when he found her fading away into nothing in the dark.

"Do not be afraid, dear one."

A small half-hearted smile tugged at one corner of his lips as if to reassure her.

Brittle and forced; it was a completely human thing to do.

It was a completely human thing to say.

And Sen choked on words without realizing she'd spoken.

"How can you be so calm!?"

Again he flashed that awkward brittle smile before his face fell.

"I am not."

His expression struck the bell in her heart, making her ring with understanding.

It was her turn to see through him, to see the barely hidden flash of fear in his eyes.

He was trying to be brave, but she could feel his hands begin to shake.

He was seriously scared. So was she.

All at once she was angry again, but only to hide the terror that revelation inspired in her.

Because even Gods could die.

Before she could say something dumb Kohaku glanced up the hill only to hastily look away.

All as once his lips drew into a grim line as a storm brewed in his brooding eyes.

"A-apologies, dear one," he choked in a whisper.

Sen frowned in confusion.

"Why're you sorry?"

He nodded toward the restaurant district looking sick.

"This…"

His voice failed as it grew thick.

"This will be extremely difficult."

As her face crumpled up into a frown so tight it was painful Kohaku laced his fingers through hers. His grip grew tighter and tighter as wordlessly they walked through the streets. But Sen forgot even her premonition in what she saw next. She knew that the Forgotten had destroyed this place. Kohaku and Lin had told her terrible stories of what took place. But knowing and seeing were different things; and suddenly she understood what he'd said earlier.

She looked on uncomprehending at the broken bones of the gaudy pastel storefronts. They folded in on themselves like houses of cards scorched by fire and shattered by violence. Wisps of faded paper hung in tatters from the swinging lines overhead. Humming eerily as tongues of cutting gusts of misty wind, all they bore now were the bleached ribs of once fat and jolly lanterns that used to garland the narrow avenues. Sen startled, knocking sideways into Kohaku as dark shapes with glittering red eyes scuttled about in the shadows, glaring after them menacingly but held at bay by the daylight. As they jerked to a halt he drew one of his arms around her waist, holding her close and urging her away from the rubble even as their armor plates scraped and grated against. In that moment Sen realized this pile of rubble was once the restaurant where her parents turned into pigs.

Gone were the salivation-inducing smells of decadent foods.

The humming fans, murmuring voices, clinking drinks, and clattering plates were all silent.

But the worst was still to come.

Ahead of them the dilapidated road climbed steep stairs and took a hard left. With each step her heart sank further and further into the pit of her unsettled stomach. They were clinging to each other now. Glancing up at Kohaku she found him more than haunted. A muscle was jumping at the back of his tightly clenched jaw. He stared steadfastly at the ground if trying not to see anything else. As they passed a pile of scorched wood beneath a shattered tree trunk he cringed, bowing his head and gritting his teeth in pain. Again, Sen didn't recognize the lantern the pine tree at first; just like it took her a moment to understand why she found the yawning emptiness beyond the cliff ahead to be so jarring. But then the shrouding mists parted for a moment as another bitter gust of wind scattered bits of dust and rubble.

Aghast, Sen stared up at the ruins of the Bath House.

It slouched to the side as if too beaten to stand.

Echoing emptiness poured from the pitch black inside every burned out window and doorway.

The hollowed entrance seemed to scream like a silent mouth desperate to be heard.

But no sound escaped the gaping wound of the doorway.

Dead and splintered trees bent over the shambles of the garden fence.

Vines grew rampant across the blistered plaster exterior.

But the red paint remained.

It bled through the fog like a fresh wound.

Still she felt nothing but shock as she stared.

Emotion was strangely withheld.

Because this didn't feel real; this had to be some kind of nightmare.

Deep in her heart the child Chihiro screamed and railed, demanding that all this be a dream.

But Sen knew better; Sen knew all too well that all of this was real.

With a gasp she shied back into Kohaku as shapes streaked past the knocked out windows. No kami inhabited this place now. All that was left were angry ghosts. Sen recognized the gaki immediately. Sharp and hungry eyes like frozen pin-pricks watched from the shadowed doorways. They paced the edges of daylight, clambering in their haste to find a way closer. But they couldn't find a way across even if it wasn't day. As if it had never been there in the first place, the glossy wood ribbon of the splendid bridge was gone. It was replaced now by a staggering yawning drop into absolutely nothing. Seized by a strange need to look over the edge, Kohaku pulled her back as she tried to creep forward. Clinging again, silently they stared at the flashes of red in the mist even as the pallid fox silently ghosted into view.

" _Child…!_ Where have you brought us?!"

Suzume muttered the next words in little more than a whisper that was half lost in the wind. Sen gritted her teeth in shame as she realized she had almost forgotten about the fox. Blown about in the wind like a bit of dandelion fluff, the God's reflective gold eyes were stricken as he stared up at the bones of the Bath House's bones. Deeper and deeper as if pressed by the weight of his consternation, his brow folded into crease after crease. Suzume didn't pull away as the cat cozied into his shadow. Cinna glared across the chasm with flattened ears and bristled tail. As if facing a familiar fear, her pupils contracted to slits so tight her eyes turned bloody red. She sniffed the air experimentally then growled low beneath her breath.

"Welcome t' _hell_ , stupid fox."

Sen blinked as Kohaku threw a dour glance at the cat. But then he trailed his eyes back to the slouching heap. He didn't bother to hide the sorrow and the contempt that went to war in his face. It was a strange mix of emotions, but one that Sen understood well enough herself. She probably looked at her parents' house with a similar expression. But in it Sen caught another glimpse of the old Haku. The dragon's ghost surfaced in the cold tone that Kohaku used next.

"This place was once a bath house for the Gods."

Sen was surprised that Suzume didn't bite Kohaku's head off. Instead the fox's face cleared with recognition as he continued to stare at the ruin.

" _This_ is Aburaya?!"

Kohaku stared askance at the fox, seriously startled that he knew the Bath House's name.

"You know of Aburaya?"

Suzume shrank from the shambles of the building as if repelled.

"Hayashimi spoke of this place. She said she once called it home."

Kohaku blinked several times before more truth slipped out of him unconsciously. And he was back to staring at the shifting clouds as that haunted expression.

"We both did. But foolishly, this I did not realize until it was gone…"

Here Kohaku's voice shredded with fierce anguish. As if something he'd said had seriously pissed him off, Suzume's face twisted with rage. Gritting his teeth he glared sideways at Kohaku; and Sen's insides scrambled as for a moment because it looked like he was going to pick a fight. But then something flitted through Suzume's burning gold eyes. He continued to stare at Kohaku as if seeing him for the first time. And slowly his anger drained away until it was replaced by an expression that bordered on sympathy; caustic sympathy, but sympathy none-the-less.

"It is a terrible thing to lose one's home, Dragon."

As Kohaku glanced at the fox in sharp surprise Suzume spun on his heel to face her.

"Child! Why have you brought us here!?"

And all of a sudden that strange dreamy feeling filled her with anticipation. Feeling like a stranger in her own body Sen pronounced the words. The bell in her heart hummed in sympathy. And she brought the God to attention with truth.

"Everything I've seen will happen here, Suzume."

It took a minute for that to sink in. Then the God's face went black with fresh anger.

"No good can come from this place!"

"I've seen it in Sengen's mirror."

That knocked the wind right out of him. Was it possible for him to get any paler or pissier?

Yes.

" _Do not speak her name!"_ The fox sputtered furiously.

His white robes furling eerily beneath the blue light of the single foxfire that crackled to life over his head. It might've frightened another human; but Sen wasn't human anymore. She was wise to his game and she glared back at the fox with an eerie unwavering calm.

"I've _seen_ what hasn't happened yet, Suzume. We can use that to our advantage."

The fox bared his sharp, sharp teeth.

"This place is _forsaken!_ It is _infested_ with Gaki!"

She dismissed his assessment without hesitation.

"We'll dance them out."

He uttered a bitingly sarcastic laugh throwing a hand at the mists.

"If that _tomb_ does not collapse on us first!"

Sen pointed her finger at a flash of red wall that showed through the clouds.

"If I can add an entire building to Onsen I can shore this one up enough to keep it standing."

Suzume loomed over her still baring his teeth glaring down at her imperiously. Cinna caught Kohaku as anger broke out on his face, holding him back as he tried to intervene. But Suzume wasn't interested in him anymore. Again he repeated himself.

"There is _no_ advantage here, child!"

Looking up at him unfazed by his height and his otherworldly display, Sen glared through the lightning flashes in the fox's eyes. He was still looking at her like she was stupid, like she hadn't considered any of this. He was talking to her like she was a little girl that didn't know anything. Worst of all, he wasn't even listening! And his refusal was beginning to erode her confidence, because if it wasn't possible to make this come out a different… Sen stopped herself, refusing to think of it. She continued to stare down the God, refusing to let him bully her. In that moment Sen saw through all his fire and bluster to the truth. His gold eyes were brimming with fear. Fear for her. Fear for Lin. Fear for all of them, especially at seeing this place. It frightened him; reminded him how little he knew of the world. He couldn't take it anymore. So he reacted the only way he knew how: with angry denial. Suzume blinked as he realized what she was doing. He shrank from her as his face wiped with shock. He took a shuddering breath as if to speak. Sen didn't let him.

"Shut up and listen, Suzume," she commanded quietly.

As indignation smoldered in his gold eyes Sen pinned him in place with her cold stare. Even though he was no longer bound to obey, the fox clenched his teeth. And a shard of apprehension flitted through his face as Sen let her anger show. Because there was no excuse for this crap; not now; not with what was at stake. Quietly, so very quietly he really would have to listen to hear her, Sen gave him an ultimatum.

"I need you to help us. Stay if you can do that. Otherwise I want you to go home."

As if she'd slapped him the God flinched. He stared down at her in stunned devastation. All at once he was clinging to her wrist as if afraid she might leave.

"C-child!" He stammered in a panicked rush, "I cannot leave you! You are all I have!"

Even as her heart wrenched in her chest at his expression she stood firm. Chihiro let Suzume get away with way too much. Sen wasn't going to make that mistake.

"Then stop being such a great big jerk, okay!?"

Suzume struggled visible as anger flash through his line-etched face like wildfire. But then the God dropped his gold eyes, staring long and hard at her shoulder where the fujo had shot her. His face cleared as he brushed the spot with charcoal black fingers.

"I… I know not how to be anything but what I am…"

Suzume breathed in a conflicted hush. Finally he looked up at her through the ragged curtain of his spider silk hair. His gold eyes melted with contrite affection.

"For your sake I will try."

She wanted to hug him for that. Unfortunately there wasn't time.

Lifting his arm she peered through the cuff of his kimono sleeve searching for the pretty beige paper he'd used to make a maple leaf back at her parent's house. As the fox threw his hands into the air going red in the face she pulled at the front of his kimono. Instantly he retreated with a yip, staring at her sideways and straightening his clothes only to retreat again as she came after him. The cat fled up the broken tree trunk with a startled hiss as Suzume seized Kohaku and shoved him into her path. They collided with a tinny clang. Sen was forced to catch him otherwise he would've fallen.

"C-child!" Suzume protested from a distance in a scandalized bark, "Explain yourself!"

She stamped her foot and pointed at the Bath House.

"I need that paper to fix it, okay!?"

"Paper!?" He repeated woodenly, still staring like she had gone crazy.

"The beige stuff you used to make the maple leaf!"

Finally Suzume's face cleared with understanding. He reached into his sleeve and produced a single fold of white. But his face fell, turning pale as the paper when he looked at the ruin of Aburaya.

"There is not enough."

As she stared at the paper stupidly Sen tried not to feel the shake in her legs. Before they could dissolve her composure Kohaku pulled from his grip. He reached into the secret shadows of his tatter cloak, producing a massive fold of ancient paper carefully wrapped in plastic. This he held out with both hands, bowing to her with elegance that wasn't human.

"Will this be enough, dear one?"

Forgetting everything, she stared instead at his offered gift. Sen was afraid for a moment to touch it because the sight of the paper inspired a thrilling surge of hope deep in her heart. But just as she accepted it Suzume snatched the thick packet out of her hands. As the fox inspected it incredulously his face cleared. Folding it with utmost care Suzume turned on Kohaku so swiftly Sen scrambled for her bow. But this time there wasn't any anger in his tone, only surprise.

"Where did you come by this!?"

Visibly struggling with the rude interjection, Kohaku replied in words of chiseled ice.

"It was a gift from Onsen."

Suzume snorted. Then he returned the packet to her, pressing the single sheaf from his sleeve under her palm.

"Blessing upon that house," the fox muttered, "She is wiser than us all."

Sen was left in a lurch as the fox abruptly withdrew, sweeping off to pace the edge of the cliff as if judging the distance. Already she could see the question forming on his lips. Before he could ask, Sen awkwardly shifted the packet of paper into one arm, wincing as again her shoulder twinged. Then she shoved hand into pocket and commanded the _geihobako_ hidden there.

"Paint brush!"

From the fold of fabric she produced Suzume's gift. Pinning the packet under her arm she drew free the top slip. Suddenly caught in a gust it fluttered in her fingers like a living thing. Gripping tightly, feeling all eyes on her, Sen crept to the edge of the cliff. Her heart lurched into her throat as wind howled up over the edge. She knew how deep it was, but not being able to see the bottom made her insides scramble giddily.

As she crouched there her pulse quickened briskly.

Sweat was beading on her upper lip.

Looking out at the swirling sheets of vapor she called up memories of the bridge.

She could picture it in her mind without any difficulty.

She could see the brilliant crimson lacquered banisters.

The wide planks of wood polished by the passing of a thousand feet.

The burnished bronze post-caps shaped like wish granting jewels.

The beautiful ornamental cypress Yoshi lovingly pruned every day.

The great red lantern with its polished brass fittings and thick gold paint.

She could still see it glowing brightly as its face proudly offered the kanji of Aburaya's name.

Pinning the flapping page to the lip of the cliff with one hand Sen put to words with the other what she could see so clearly in her mind. Black, black ink spread from the bristles of her brush the moment it touched the page. In careful strokes she crafted her characters. Instantly a white-cold thrill surged up the length of her arm as if starlight was shooting through her veins. But she didn't stop writing even as it spread through her insides like a swelling wave, held back by the thin membrane of her skin only to escape from the surface of her eyes until she felt like she was made of the uncanny humming sparkling tingle of magic!

The page seemed to unfold beneath her brush, changing color and texture. It spread like ink, staining the ground as it became bigger and bigger. Sen scrambled back into a rude seat on the ground as the bridge unfurled through the fog like a snapping banner. She flinched again as the cypress lifted up to her left in a loud hushing of needles and creaking wood. Cinna hissed explosively, fleeing her transforming perch. Gathering up in a shuffling of the thousand shattered pieces, the lantern shrugged off the ground like a rising sleeper. Invisible hands snatched up the gabled pitch of its roof like a man returning his hat to head. Sen gasped audibly as light erupted from within its paper face, blinding her with the eerie hum of uncanny origin.

" _S-shite!"_

Cinna swore explosively as she danced from foot to foot with ever hair on end.

" _Shite! Shite! Shite!"_

Kohaku caught the cat before she could bolt, holding her as the flickering Godlight thrummed triumphantly. He stared back and forth between the lantern and the bridge with a blank expression of absolute shock. Here Sen sagged, collapsing back onto the ground dropping her brush and the packet as suddenly all the air seemed to leave her body. Sen hadn't expected the exhaustion. All at once the hacked off curtain of Suzume's spider silk hair invaded her face.

"Are you alright, child!?"

"Yeah," she breathed, "That kinda took it out of me."

The fox's frozen hands hauled her against his folded knees. Even though she was still pissed Sen let him, taking comfort in the cinnamon smell of his robes. Sen startled as he took her hand, closing her fingers around the paintbrush she dropped.

"I have never doubted your words," Suzume muttered grudgingly.

Sen sighed gustily. That was the closest to an apology she was going to get from him. They both looked up as Cinna skulked by to sniff the edge of the bridge.

"S'it really real?"

The cat tapped the boards with her toe only to retreat in an arching leap. But the bridge held and the cat's interest intensified. Crouching down and wiggling her shoulders back and forth, Cinna bolted halfway across only to screech to a halt. Skulking to the side, she slowly peered over the railing. Here her tail bristled out until every hair on her body was standing on end. Her glittering red eyes dilated as they swallowed the dizzying drop below. Shrinking back, the cat straightened then jumped in place three times with all her body weight only to retreat up into the tree as if afraid the bridge might chase her. Suzume snorted, taking in the cat's antics without comment. Sen, however, saw him hiding a smirk behind his hand.

"How long will it last?" Sen wheezed.

Suzume glanced at her before looking back to the bridge. Then he rose to his feet taking her with him.

"The spirit world sustains magic. And so we shall wait and see."

Still clinging to Suzume's arm Sen looked up to find the cat was clawing the cypress trunk.

"S'impressive, kiddo! But aye gotta ask if yeh's really thought this through, neh?"

Her shrewd red eyes contracted into tight slits as she look at the lantern.

"Aye cun dance ah handful gaki t'death, bu' nea more."

Sen's legs shook as she struggled to stand.

"We're not going to dance them to death."

Flashes of blue broke through the speeding clouds as they parted. Glancing up Sen stared at the Bath House's leaning smoke stack as it resolved out of the mists. The faded character for hot water was still visible near its crown. As she did she could already see the massive furnace hidden in the depths of the structure.

"We're gonna burn them."


	27. Chapter 27

**HAKU**

He stared uncomprehending at the massive red lantern.

A second ago it was dead on the ground smashed into bits.

Now it stood as if it had never been struck down.

Cheerily the unwavering light within continued to hum as if happy to be home. Sick and cold with shock, Haku reached with shaking hands to touch the gold fittings. They were cool to the touch, solid and smooth, glinting brightly in the dim filtered light. Throwing his eyes to the cypress he ran his shaking hand over the rough bark as if dreaming. Leaning in close he breathed in the earthy perfume of its springy brittle bark. He reached out and plucked a sprig of green from its branch. This he brought to his nose, inhaling the sharp green smell of the evergreen's sap. Haku put the spring in his mouth, biting down on the scaly frond only to spit out the bitter taste. Stunned he dumped back against the cypress trunk lest his legs give out.

In the moment Haku found he doubted his senses. Staring at his hands he circled his wrist, gritting his teeth against the familiar spike of pain as the bones clicked and cracked against each other. The pain was very real; so too were the tree and the lantern. His insides reeled slowly he turned his eyes out over the bridge. As the swirling clouds parted for a moment the red banisters flashed in ray of sunlight. Then the fog swallowed them once more as the clouds coalesced. Shaken to his core by the sight, Haku marveled at the power of magic.

A god would not have looked twice at such a thing.

Perhaps it was because he was a mortal now?

How quickly fear and suffering returned to him a sense of awe and consternation.

"Wotcha mean yeh's gonna _burn_ 'em!?"

Haku nearly jumped out of his skin as Okesa spoke from directly over his head. All at once sound seemed to rush back into the world whereas before it had been silent. For a moment he had forgotten himself. Looking up he found the cat perched in the tree. Haku threw his attention to Chihiro as she stood shakily looking more than pale. His heart squeezed in his chest as he realized she was not actually standing and instead the fox was holding her up. Suzume had his arm around her middle. That alone inspired in Haku such a stab of resentment his hand wandered for Hanoane. But he forgot the angry emotions as Chihiro spoke with a stranger's voice.

"There's a big furnace in the lower level. Get all the gaki in there. Close the door and I'll take care of the rest."

Haku found himself staring at her, baffled by something he could not name. Obviously distressed Okesa sank her claws deeper and deeper into the trunk. He frowned as coils of wood shavings fell down on his shoulders from above.

"Tch! Y'make tha' sound easy, neh kiddo! Bu' y'don' know how bad's in there, neh? There's nae _floor_ left on t'first level!"

Chihiro did not appear troubled by that. Holding up her paintbrush she made writing motions in the air.

"Then I'll make a new one."

Okesa loosed an angry hiss making the branch creek beneath her weight.

"Y'cun barely stand! Magic's got ah _price,_ kiddo!"

"Then I'll pay it!"

Chihiro bit back hotly.

"We need this place sturdy and standing! Shurui will come here and she'll bring Lin with her!"

Suzume stood bolt upright at that, going paler than pale if that was possible. Nonplussed, the cat tossed her hip saucily as she balanced perfectly on the swaying branch.

"How's tha', neh!? Wot's ah spider want ' _ere_?!"

Chihiro continued to refuse the cat's qualms with complete conviction.

"That doesn't matter! All that matters is we know this place inside and out! When the spiders get here we'll be ready!"

A swift gust of wind went blowing out of him at the last of her words. So that was her plan. He had wondered why she led him away from Clock Tower town toward Aburaya's ruin. Again he saw the tortured expression she had turned on him atop the stone stairs. At the memory his heart squeezed with cold terror that set his teeth on edge, because he knew she carried a vision stolen from Sengen's mirror. How he wished desperately that he could take it from her! There was no consoling her. She had seen the same doom given him by the bat in Shitamachi. Like the smoke she constantly blew in his face again Haku heard Kubi's words in his mind. Garuda was dead. Kubi killed him. Haku held firm to that fact stolidly. That did not, however, change the fact that the spider had Lin. Lifting his eyes Haku peered through the fog, searching for the ghost of red. His insides stilled like smoothing waters as the bridge flashed in the gloom.

Awed and heartened, Haku realized Chihiro was right.

They did know this place inside and out.

And that would be of great advantage once they reclaimed Aburaya.

"Y'ain't gonna have t' _steam_ left t'make fire after sprucin' up tha' hole! Let t'fox help!"

Needles rained as the cypress creaked in complaint. All the same Okesa jostled it again unhappily. Ignoring the cat, Chihiro patted Suzume's arm. Reluctantly the fox let her go only to hover in her shadow as she wobbled over to pick up the packet of paper. Straightening with difficulty she refused Okesa's suggestion.

"It has to be _mortal_ fire."

As Suzume opened his mouth Chihiro wheeled on him with a dour expression.

"Don't argue with me! You know I'm right!"

The fox's teeth clicked audibly as his mouth snapped shut. Not without chagrin Haku forced himself to admit that he and Suzume had exhausted Chihiro's patience. There was little chance of reasoning with her now. Here the fox glanced at him as Haku pushed away from the tree. His insides went cold with distaste as he returned the fox's scrutiny. Suzume glared back more than acrimoniously then blinked. As pink colored the God's cheeks he abruptly looked away smoothing his kimono. Haku frowned at the fox's reaction. Confusion tempered his words as he addressed the God with poorly forced politeness.

"Must it be Chihiro who writes the words or many any take up the brush, Suzume-san?"

Chihiro startled as he spoke, turning to face him. Unhappy heat spread across his cheeks as she fixed him again with cold unwavering scrutiny. Never in his memory had she looked at him thus. There was something else in her gaze and the fact that he knew not what frightened him to sickness. He could not bear the inscrutable weight of her eyes any longer. Feeling like he might burst into flames Haku looked away as she addressed the fox.

"Suzume?"

The God was surprisingly forthcoming.

"Any may take the brush but the words must be written with great conviction lest they will fail."

Turning to Chihiro Haku bowed with automatic contrition.

"Let me help you, dear one."

Chihiro's eerie stare rounded to him once more. The look blew right through him taking with it all the warmth of the world. Reaching with his hands pleadingly he bowed lower, staring at the ground between them.

"Please? It is as you say; I know Aburaya inside and out. I know every hall and every stair. I can rebuild from memory what has been undone. "

Sweat broke out on his upper lip as the silent seconds seemed to drag into hours. He could have melted with relief as Chihiro put the brush and the packet into his hands. Glancing up from under the thick fringe of his hair Haku's heart sank in sadness as she turned her back on him without a word. Instead she turned the hard edge of her unwavering stare toward the ruin of Yubaba's bath house. It was devoid of fear as she gazed through the breaking fog as if seeing something there he could not.

"We'll need to clear the way."

Haku flinched as again she spoke in a stranger's voice. He blinked rapidly as her efficiency unbalanced him. Her demeanor was utterly at odds with the uncertainty and awkwardness she displayed at the Oni Rocks only yesterday. An eerie thrill crawled up the back of his arms at the sound of that strange something in her voice. He studied the iron determination on her face. As if her pale hair and silver eyes had not transformed her enough. Never had he seen Chihiro wear such a look. Slowly understanding dawned, and not without a twinge of sorrow that the look belonged to Sen and not Chihiro. All at once he remembered their conversation from the gentle hours of the morning.

He remembered how she had refused her name.

Again his heart squeezed painfully as he realized that child named Chihiro was gone.

Gone, but not forgotten, in the strange woman named Sen who remained.

Haku was startled from his thoughts as Okesa jumped down from her branch. She landed lithely at his feet only to slip two red fans into the tightly wound sash at his middle. She patted his belly twice, flashing him a warm grin and a wily wink before sauntering to Sen's side. Throwing out her hip the cat gnawed irritably on one of her thick yellowed claws until Sen glanced at her consideringly. Loitering in their wake, Haku tucked the packet of paper into a gap in his armor and practiced quickly removing sheets of paper over and again all the while listening in unnoticed.

"How many gaki are really in there?"

Okesa continued inspecting her claws as if unconcerned by what she spoke next.

"Didnja 'ear me, neh kiddo? S' _hundred_. Maybe more."

Haku frowned, quietly impressed as Sen blinked but did not retreat from that.

He was even more struck by the display of leadership that followed.

He flinched each time she spoke his true name.

Even that sounded strange on her lips.

"We're gonna dance together, okay? Like we did for Seki no Taro. We'll go across the bridge and into the welcome station together. We'll dance there and hold all the gaki back so Kohaku can fix the main floor. After that can you get them into lines and keep them going in circle like back at the old village back at Kumomi?"

"Aye s'pose," The cat spat, muttering under her breath sullenly, "But aye's gonna need some really big circles, neh!"

Kohaku laid her fears to rest with quiet reassurance.

"Once repaired the main floor is large enough to accommodate several hundred Gods. Then we can open the windows and weaken them further with sunlight."

His insides squeezed as Sen glanced at him shortly only to glance aside at the fox as he took his place beside her. Again the God's proximity inspired in Kohaku a flash of anger. But he had no call to protest. Okesa, however, had no qualms remanding Sen with angry questions. Her concern for his wellbeing touched a raw chord deep in his heart.

"An' while aye's babysitting t'horde up top who's gonna keep kitten from gettin' got by t'gaki while he's scribblin' away, neh?!"

Sen replied with quick sureness as she gestured between herself and the fox.

"We will."

Okesa laughed with explosive derision.

" _Ha!_ T'stupid fox'll be _glad_ t'see 'im git eaten!"

Turning on her in a flash of angry fire the fox growled furiously.

"Hold your tongue, _cat!_ Lest I take it from you!"

With a startled hiss Okesa fled to hide in his shadow. Suzume bristled furiously as the cat leaned out to wag her tongue at the fox, pulling down her lower eye-lid to taunt him. Haku repelled Suzume's ire with a frosty glare when the God turned as to give the cat chase. They faced off for a moment, but then a touch of pink colored Suzume's cheeks. Imperiously he spun away smoothing the front of his kimono leaving Haku to frown at the fox's reaction. Hastily tucking the brush in with the paper, Haku restrained the cat, ending to whatever mischief she intended as Okesa tried to skulk after the fox.

"What next, child?" The fox demanded of Sen while ignoring he and the cat.

She continued sketching her plan. It was more than sound given the circumstances.

"We'll collect and hold the stragglers as Kohaku continues fixes thing. One of us will dance the gaki back to the main floor while the other stays. There'll be less and less of them so it'll be easier for one of us to hold the smaller groups. Then we'll regroup on the first floor and dance the whole group down to the furnace."

Haku flinched as somehow Okesa's claws found their way through his armor. The cat lashed her tail as her velvet black ears folded, continuing to tarry Sen with questions.

"Yeh's gonna be flat tired, kiddo! How's yeh gonna call up yor fire after all tha', neh?"

Sen took a few steps forward until her toes touched the first boards of the bridge. Haku followed in unconscious panic, pulling the cat with him. But then, without turning, she replied easily.

"Fire comes easier than you think."

Okesa was pulling him in the opposite direction now. She hung on him heavily like a weighing stone, as if she could prevent him from following further.

" _S'crazy_ , kiddo! S'whole thing's _crazy!_ "

The gravelly hush of her ruined voice was thin with trepidation as she spoke, because Okesa has seen with her own eyes what horrors lay inside the broken bath house.

"But aye love's yeh. An' aye's gonna do wot aye cun do t'help."

A ray of sunlight caught the surface of his golden flute as Suzume produced it from his sleeve. As if nervous the God flew his fingers back and forth across the length. The fox continued to fidget until he drew in a breath to speak. Sen did not permit him to do so, silencing with quiet confidence whatever worry the he was about to voice.

"We can do this, Suzume."

He hesitated then loosed the drawn breath only to speak with rare platitude.

"What pace do you require, child?"

Sen shuffled, showing her first signs of anxiousness.

"Nothing too fast. I need to be able to keep up with you."

Here Okesa wriggled out of Kohaku's grip only to unfurl from nowhere a semi-circle swath of lacquered beetle black. The sight of Shurui's onyx fan turned his blood to ice. Thankfully Okesa kept the iron bell silenced as she pulled on her sly cat's mask and began whirling around him in a series of limbering circles as a runner might stretch in preparation for a sprint. Anxiously Haku touched the brush and fold of paper at his side before withdrawing the fans Okesa had tucked into his waist band. Gripping their hafts he found they brought no comfort. Haku glanced up as Sen diverted a hand to her side. In a long smooth motion she produced the suzu from her pocket in a shower of sharp silver voices and fluttering ribbon. Haku gasped as his insides thrilled and scrambled with involuntary twitches as the bright choir call of bells brought him to the tips of his toes. The bronze bells clutched in his gauntleted hands hummed in sympathy to the sound, sending electric thrills shooting up the back of his arms and legs. The chorus of bells left every fiber of his body tingling with foreboding as again a flash of red showed through the parting mists.

Heeding the prelude of song the clouds parted as if cut by a knife.

Blindingly bright, light poured down from above onto the corpse of a building.

It brought no warmth as the sight sent cold dread washing through his body.

The wide boards of the phantom bridge gleamed as if wet.

They arched forward in a graceful bow only to pour into the burned archway.

Haku's insides clenched with dread as he stared through the tattered billowing curtains.

Terrible shadows clambered in that mouth of madness.

As he stared his insides twisted and snarled with tightening terror until he could barely breathe.

"Don't be afraid," Sen proclaimed firmly, returning to him the words he had offered her earlier.

As she glanced back directly at him Haku startled. She was wearing her phoenix face. Sunlight caught the red-gold paint coating the wood making it catch fire. Inside the oculars her quicksilver eyes gleamed like a flash of starlight. In that moment her words were for only him.

"This place belongs to us, Kohaku. We're taking it back."

Through the pursed lips of his white fox mask Suzume blew a high note through the gold flute. The sound struck Haku physically, blowing through him like a gale leaving him full of sparkling blue sky. It was not the haughty commanding air Haku has expected of the God. This was a song of home; a song of sunlight and salt air; of camphor trees; red lacquered tea bowls, and blue tiled roofs. Haku saw a flash of truth in Suzume's melody. He heard the deep echo of longing and loneliness just as he felt the cutting thrill of the God's hidden sadness. He tasted Suzume's grief and loss with every note and found the bitter flavor so very familiar. Gods, after all, could not lie. And it turned out they were not so different after all.

Sen followed in Suzume's shadow with a step for each beat.

Between each pace she shook her bells twice.

 _Cring-jing!_ Step. _Jing-Cring!_ Step.

Like the beat of his heart the sound of her bells thundered in time against the wall of his chest. Perhaps it was the powerful memory held in the melody. Perhaps it was the iron conviction in Sen's mirrored eyes. Without hesitation he pulled on his dragon's mask and joined the strange procession. His heart flew into his throat as the bridge boards creaked beneath his feet as frozen winds buffeted his hair and clothes. He ignored them as blood sang in his veins full of singing magic and song. Okesa fell in beside him, fitting herself a step ahead of him beneath the perfect arch of his arms. Large and small; red and gold; black and silver; in perfect unison they began weaving themselves through the existing fabric of the song spell. Faster than Sen and the fox; light and lithely they whirled in time.

Even as they flashed their fans, Haku knew no God had ever danced these steps before.

 _One-two-three! Ring-jing-cring!_

Haku coaxed Okesa into a waltz as Kenka and Shouta had taught them.

All the same, his heart skipped a beat on a stab of terror as gravel crunched under his heel and they lift the merry red bridge behind. Without that band of brightness in sight at once the horrors of the dead house flooded around him like a welling nightmare. The rotted lattice gates moaned in the wind as they hung on their hinges. As if it had offended the gaki somehow, Aburaya's name plate had been torn down and hurled against the adjacent wall. Needled and knifed fingers had carved deep gouges into the wood plank over and over until the name was no longer legible. Like scattered carcasses of slain attendants, the four guardian lanterns lay in broken pieces at his feet. Haku was forced to dance over their bleached bones only to step in one of the horrible wide splashes of brown and black staining the once white flag stones.

Haku's stomach turned and his steps faltered as the smell of old blood lifted beneath his feet.

It fluttered around his head in dark flecks upon the faded shreds of remaining curtains.

And it was all he could do not to lose time as one touched the side of his face.

Haku forced himself to dance on, forced his shaking arms and legs to sustain the song of his bells. But he furled and flourished his fans with increasingly wooden movements. And it was becoming difficult to hear their song over the thunder of his heart in his ears because he was passing through the blistered black archway of the front entryway. The touch of the sun disappeared as if cut by a knife and his heart slammed into the top of his throat as his vision swam, adjusting to the gloom. Then he caught the familiar sight of the bandai station. It was clawed and gouged with the same hatred as the board outside. So too were the broken bones of the decorative screens and sliding doors that once garlanded the way to the great green steaming baths. But all Haku could smell now was the acrid stink of fire as the blistered black ceiling seemed to press down on his overhead. As he struggled to keep dancing he stared from the corners of his eyes where tongues of fire had devoured the ceiling, leaving brittle holes that opened windows into the second floor.

He jerked aside, losing tempo as something rushed past one of the holes.

Okesa caught him with her iron bell, pulling him forward with her movements.

With strange gratitude he turned himself over to the commanding pull of Shurui's black fan. Otherwise Haku was not sure he could have passed the shattered remains of the bath house's welcome station. The only reason he had cross this threshold before was he had been compelled by the oni collar. Onward he plunged into the thickly clotted gloom beyond. The ground bounced rickitilly under his feet, making him doubt the firmness of every step. But as if bewitched by the strange sight the darkness retreated. It unfolded ahead only to lift upward; higher and higher as if never ending; pushed back by the piercing reverberating cry of Suzume's flute. Song swelled in the broken interior as the shimmering voices of their bells glancing off the high gables chased and propelled by a crackling fleet of whirling fizzling sapphire foxfires. But even the unruly constellation of effervescent blue dwindled, breaking and rolling back in the swallowing black as their song was drowned out and swallowed in a hideous scrabbling chorus of scuttling.

Haku's legs turned to rubber beneath a powerful swell of terror, threatening to fold as every remaining bit of wall and floor writhed with what seemed like undulating waves of sooty water. The flood ran up and down every surface in all directions, fleeing the light and defying reason. Illuminated by the foxlights, Haku wheeled aside as he realized he danced on the edge of a cliff. The floor ahead of dropped away into sloping planes that broke in teeth-like shards into the monstrous maw that had swallowed Mother Tanuki.

The pit yawned hungrily at the house's heart.

It opened down into a bleak nothing that could have been hell itself.

But even as it rolled back, the black tide overhead slowed only to pause.

Every inch of Haku's skin crawled as hundreds of needle pin-prick eyes bore down on him.

The pressure of the gaze of the dead was far worse than he remembered.

He froze as, like the retreating surf, the black tide returned.

Gaki rolled down the walls in a hissing deluge.

They poured down the stairwells in reaching writhing thickets of bladed fingers.

All the air left his lungs at the sight; he could not breathe; could not move.

He could not hear anything but the hissing scuttle of their spindly limbs.

Haku was struck dumb and still as terror dragged him beyond even the reach of Okesa's power.

Even as the flood hit an invisible wall.

Even as the tide scuttled to a halt so swiftly several lost their purchase and plunged into the pit.

In his mind's eye even as they were no longer gaki.

 _SPIDERS!_ _SPIDERS! SPIDERS EVERYWHERE!_

In unending waves of horror the sound of their skittering crawled across every inch of his naked skin. Even when he clenched shut his eyes the horrid shadows of their spindly legs crawled in hordes across the inside of his head. Until he could feel the sticky threads of their silk tickling his face and neck; until he could taste Jouma's warm black blood in his mouth and feel it slick on his hands; until he felt the stab of their fangs and the burning acid of their venom as it turned the sludge in his veins to ice. He tried to scream but not so much as a sound escaped his clenched teeth.

Again he wavered on the edge of madness.

Teetering as a sea of black bodies pressed in to crush him into oblivion.

As the shadow of death hung over his head something hit him hard.

It threw him to the ground only to yank him upright where he sagged forward onto his knees.

Uncomprehending he stared ahead into nothing as sparklers swam in his vision.

Still stunned, he found himself drenched with cold sweat and out of breath.

If it had been anyone other than Sen, Haku was not sure he would have heard them.

" _Kohaku!"_

She shouted from what sounded like miles and miles away.

" _Kohaku, wake up!"_

Blinking rapidly he stared at her, watching numbly as she struggled to wave her handle of bells like it was the heaviest thing she had ever lifted. Again the invisible hands caught and dragged him forward, dumping him at her feet. She was barely keeping time, barely able to keep up. Haku cringed as Okesa skated past him. She was a blur of black beside the fox's smudge of white. Haku clamped hands over his ears as sound returned to the world in a rushing roar bringing with it the searing screech of an angry flute. Sen stumbled as the ground gave an unnerving lurch.

 _"The floor!"_ Sen all but screamed in his ear, _"Fix the floor!"_

All at once he remembered; remembered where he was and what he was charged to do. Haku scrambled at his side with wooden fingers to tear free a sheaf of paper. Again the floor bucked dumping them sideways even as he pinned it to the filthy boards. And he loosed a cry of dismay as the brush knocked from his numb fingers. Away it rolled, falling between the cracks and into nothing. For thin shreds of a second Haku stared after it as again panic seemed to freeze the world.

Then he saw the long roll of white paper the bat had unfurled in the dark of Shitamachi.

He saw her paint his bleak future with the red of his blood.

Without thinking Haku tore the glove from his right hand with his teeth.

In the same slim shred of a second he popped Hanoane an inch from her sheath with the other.

Haku did not so much as feel the blade as it sliced open the tip of his finger.

With a single shaking finger he painted words in red across the page.

As he did he threw himself deep into his memories trying to call up another world long dead.

Three times a year the Gods opened all the windows in the Bath House to air out the interior. Yubaba would have him call in a wind from outside and send it winding through every nook and cranny of the house otherwise the damp would set in and the wood would rot. It was quite a sight to see the bowels of the great beast laid bare in the sun. It revealed all the hidden beauty of the mist shrouded interior. The gorgeous red wood grain would gleam like polished jewels; brass fittings showed like blinding stars as every bit of gold leaf, red lacquer, and thick silk basked in the bright light. All the while the sliding doors would rattled and jockey in their tracks as if wishing their could pop free and go cartwheeling off into the world beyond the walls they only glimpsed but three times a year. For a day or so after the airing the usually humid and heavily perfumed interior smelled of nothing but clean sky.

In blood Haku struggled captured that bright memory on that narrow sheaf of paper.

He could feel his pulse swelling in his ears till it seemed to rush from his finger tip onto the page.

All at once the page stretched beneath his hand until it grew larger and larger.

It sank into the filthy boards like a spreading stain that he could not explain.

Then the floor lurched, heaving up beneath him, tossing him into the air.

Sunlight and wind hit him square in the face as up and down seemed to reverse. He landed hard only to hit his head on clean and sturdy boards. Sprawled out on the now strangely even ground, Haku cringed as blinding brightness flooded through the oculars of his mask. But he could not see through the light nor could he hear through the violent ringing in his ears. Rolling onto his stomach in an attempt to escape it he blinked rapidly over and over until as the blade of brightness dug into his eyes. Slowly his sight began to clear and again he found himself staring uncomprehending at the gleaming red wood grain of the polished boards beneath his nose. Hands came for him, hauling him back over, pushing up his mask. Haku did not fight them. He was too overwhelmed by the rush of exhaustion that washed him like the warm sunlight pooling on his face.

"You're bleeding!"

Sen's voice was gruff as she seized his hand, gripping his sliced finger tightly.

The spike of pain induced by the pressure brought him wide awake.

As his eyes popped open he gazed up and found himself staring at her gleaming phoenix face.

It startled him for a moment, forcing him to squint through the shards of reflected light.

"I know." He breathed almost dreamily.

Bending over him Sen shoved the mask out of her face. Taking his hand she used his fingers to stop a trailing tear that suddenly spilled from her starlight eyes. Still stunned, he watched helplessly as it left a blot of wet red on her pale cheek that made him frown. But she would not let him wipe it away. She was too busy massaging his cut fingertip with her hands, pausing to inspect it closely before swiping it again against her cheeks, smearing his more of his blood across her face. She caught more and more tears until his fingers were soaked; her cheeks were red, and the wound had long since closed. Haku fought to keep his eyes open as threads of her windblown hair tickled his nose; because again she was a stranger. Deep lines cut between her pale brows, etching the downturned corners of her thinly drawn lips with such a dour expression he barely recognized her. But what frightened him most was the hard anger that turned her quicksilver eyes to iron.

"Are you angry with me, dear one?" Haku whispered desolately.

She fell still, fixing him sternly with the sharp blade of her gaze.

His insides cringed because it reminded him far too much of Kubi.

"Of course not!" She barked hoarsely.

Pulling his hand free he tried to smooth the deeply lines at the corners of her mouth.

"Then why do you frown so deeply?"

She blinked rapidly as if not realizing she had been scowling.

As she did her face softened and he caught a glimpse of Chihiro.

But she was gone as Okesa jingled and jangled past somewhere to his left.

"Neh!?" She called with thick concern. "S'he okay?"

As Haku looked toward the cat's voice he threw himself sideways into Sen, dragging her with him through a punch of wind as motivating panic quashed the exhaustion that once pinned him to the floor. Because behind the merrily prancing Okesa followed long lines of strangely obedient gaki; further away Suzume was leading a similar line of tame black shadows all the while playing a light jaunty tune on his gold flute. As if asleep on their feet the gaki followed nodding their drooping heads in time with the music. Haku flinched as a blast of wind hit him from the side making his unruly hair fly about his face. And he forgot all about the gaki. He forgot even Sen. Letting her go he took a shaking step forward only to turn in a circle of his own staring uncomprehending at the interior of the bath house.

Cedar boards, crimson lacquered bridges, and bright brass fittings gleamed in the sun. The beautiful murals of pines and irises flashed in mossy greens and dusky purples. The bright deluge poured down the massive atrium on the back of a brisk wind. Not one sliding door remained closed where they ringed the third and fourth floor balconies. Lush pink peonies, pale yellow chrysanthemums, rosy plums, and dusky orange maples painted their ornate crowns. And a fat yellow moon rose on the indigo face of screen behind the bandai station. Gold bells tinkled in the breeze where they hung from the green-patinaed roof of the great window where the ancient river spirit had passed what felt like ages ago. And the wind of his awe blew through him in great gusts as he turned round and round because everything was exactly as he remembered it; even the sweet clean smell of sky! But Haku came up short as he realized he forgot to write about the baths.

The great plane of the first floor remained unbroken.

Across it instead the gaki crawled in neat lines like docile black ants.

The boards below were a strange mirror for they did not reflect the rafters above. Slowly lifting his eyes and shrinking from what lay above, Haku stared in dismay at the gables. They remained a dark rotting mess of listing splinters and choked cobwebs. He had not written about them either. That, however, could be remedied as could so many things. Pressing his hand against the fat fold of paper jutting from the gap in his armor Haku marveled at the power of the pages. He realized he could craft from this ruin an impenetrable fortress no God could hope to escape.

On a swelling thrill of elation Haku spun toward the fox.

"Suzume-san! Do you have another brush?"


	28. Chapter 28

**SEN**

Not for the first time she threw her attention over her shoulder nervously.

Her insides crawled up and down in fits of disquiet at what she saw.

Sen threw her attention forward again all the while grinding her teeth.

Because behind her a wall of undulating gaki stretched as far as she could see.

Like some kinda twisted game of Pokémon they'd managed to capture them all.

It had been surprisingly easy, just like it was surprisingly easy to command them forward. But that was because somewhere at the very back Suzume continued to offer a light playful tune. The sound floated through the halls from afar like a thin whisp of smoke, cajoling the hungry ghosts forward. Somewhere in the middle of the horde Cinna skipped and spun, flashing and waving her single black fan. Not as muffled as the fox song, the black iron bell rang at her back in harsh clanging chimes that put Sen's teeth on edge.

A single foxfire bobbed and gyrated over her head as she rang her bells in a simple _one-two one-two_ rythm. It took all her concentration to keep up the rhythm because she also had to clamber over and under broken beams. That was not easy. Her armor was really heavy and super bulky. That and one of the laces on her straw sandals was beginning to come undone. It flopped under her heel making her walk in an ungainly gait. Still, she hauled the gaki along with her clumsy bobbing stomping. And they followed, nodding their heads in time with the persuasion of her bells. Sen had no disillusions about her dancing ability. The flute and the bell domesticated the horde of gaki enough for her to control. Because alone in the dark, she was left to head up the ghoulish parade.

Doing her best not to trip on the rubble, she scanned the narrow dark hallway ahead. That was where Kohaku had disappeared. Skating ahead of them, he continued to fix the interior structure of the bath house. As her heart clambered around in her throat she anxiously searched the dark for him. Then Sen slowed as an increasingly familiar thrumming vibration hummed beneath her tabi. At once the tremor set the bells of her suzu singing in sympathy.

"'Ere it comes!" The cat almost squealed distantly in shrill excitement.

Rushing waves of sparkles straight out of a Mr. Clean commercial suddenly rolled out of the dark on a brisk wind that smelled strongly of rain. Sen cringed, clinging to her suzu as it crashed over her leaving her skin crawling with cold with pins and needles. As the foxfire guttered overhead she gritted her teeth jumping up and down in place to keep from squealing because the sensation was super weird! But awe quickly replaced it as she looked ahead and found the hallways had utterly transformed. Gone were the blistered bulges on the walls where water had damaged the plaster. Gone were the piles of dust, cobwebs, and splintered wood beams that had rotted through. The boards beneath her feet were clean as if freshly scrubbed. And ahead of them a single beam of light showed down the elevator shaft from somewhere high above.

"Ain' it spiffy, neh!?" Cinna's laughter bounced off the narrow walls and high ceiling.

Sen was glad for it.

The sound made her forget the dull thump of hundreds of feet at her back.

But then one of the gaki bumped into her from behind.

With a truncated screech she scrambled forward as her skin writhed in creepy-crawlies.

Disgust churned in her stomach as a plume of smoke curled up from her back armor.

And the scar on her thigh burned with aching cold, making her legs heavy with dread.

Suddenly she was extremely grateful for the armor she'd been griping about a second before.

Because if the gaki they touched her bare skin it could kill her.

She knew that from experience.

Pushing those thoughts into the back of her mind she continued to swing her suzu even though her arms were beginning to ache. They were on the very bottom floor now. The hall was vaguely familiar; somewhere between the kitchens and Kamaji's quarters. As it grew colder she knew they were going deeper into the bath house's core. That was where they'd find the furnace. Her heart squeezed with anticipation of the huge room she and Kohaku had fallen into year ago. But it wasn't the happy kind or anticipation. And cold sweat ran down her back in long lines of ice as she continued to grind her teeth.

Then something moved in the dark ahead.

A flash and a glint that sent her heart slamming into her throat.

She almost startled backwards.

But she couldn't retreat, not with all the gaki right on her heels.

Relief nearly dissolved her already wobbly legs as Kohaku ghosted out of the gloom. A silent pale blue shadow, he darted forward, spinning on his heel to slip in beside her. At once lightening the burden of song, he began dancing. Effortlessly he swirled his red fans in time with his skillful steps; making his bells chime with beautiful movements that left her staring from the corners of her eyes. He wasn't even winded as he announced their progress.

"The furnace is just ahead, dear one."

Sen nodded curtly.

She didn't trust herself to speak.

She was out of breath and her legs were beginning to shake.

The suzu was heavier than they looked.

Yanking her stick of bells upright Sen struggled to keep time as they marched ahead, following in his shadow as he lead the way through a winding series of turns. As if he knew something she didn't he began to slow. And suddenly the atmosphere grew tense as the temperature dropped even further. Sen blinked as she realized she could see her breath in the air ahead. Things got super creepy as the ceiling lowered oppressively and they reached the end of the restored area. Not even the distant song of Suzume's flute could lighten the mood. The rank smell of mold and corroded metal stagnated between the rotting walls that seemed to press in on them. Curtains of dust choked cobwebs draped overhead as they rounded an anonymous corner only to pass huge warnings painted in faded red on the brittle white-washed walls.

DANGER! DO NOT ENTER! AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!

Sen frowned at the passing notices. They were barely visible beneath the thick coating of strange paper stickers printed with huge staring stylized eyes. Just looking at the pieces of paper made her toes curl and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end! Shrinking in on herself she narrowed the arch of her suzu to avoid touching them. Sen ground her teeth as they seemed to stare right at the middle of her back as they passed.

"W-what're those for?"

Sen nodded at the creepy stickers.

"Wards," He hushed as if afraid of raising his voice, "To contain evil spirits."

Peering at him Sen realized the muscle at the back of his jaw was jumping.

"You okay?"

His eerily luminous jade eyes flashed back at her like a glimpse of abalone.

"No."

She blinked. But before she could ask why Sen saw the cobweb choked rice ropes cluttering the rafters ahead. Traced in dim outlines by flickering blue foxfire, there were so many she could barely see the ceiling. She hadn't expected to see the shimenawa, just like she hadn't expected to see the deep gouges clawed into the walls as soon as the ward stickers ended. It looked like something had tried to dig its way through the walls. The wood was burned too, as if whatever had touched it was on fire. A premonition began humming in her blood as a cold sweat broke out all across her skin. And all the while the scar on her thigh throbbed and ached as if in warning.

"It tried to get out this way."

Kohaku's voice startled her as explained in a hoarse whisper.

"The wards turned it back… But somehow it found another way."

By _it_ he meant the Forgotten.

It had been a really long time since she'd thought about the terrible monster. Staring askance at the gouges in the walls she struggled to swallow. But her throat had gone dry, because in a white hot shock Sen blinked as she realized that monster had been born down here. The Forgotten had probably started out like the horde of gaki at her back, a loosely affiliated flock of transformed suffering, sickness, hate, and fear sloughed off from the Gods who bathed above. But instead of properly purging the living emotions Yubaba chose to wash them down the drain and ignore them; because time was money and filthy things didn't concern her.

But slowly suffering and torment had intensified that sickness.

Until it came to life; becoming sentient on shreds of memory.

Gods became their emotions, transforming into something else entirely. But their emotions could also break free and take on independent life. Sen had seen the black serpent of Kohaku's hate once, just as she'd seen him begin to turn into something dark as his suffering began to twist him into a monster. With a sinking sense of seizing grief Sen was once again forced to reckon with the fact that the gaki at her back had once been yuna and frogmen. She knew some of them once even if she didn't know them now. Horrible deaths had transformed the poor little kami into hungry ghosts. Doomed and forever lost: they would never find their way back. They would never find rest unless they set them free. That thought catalyzed her; because she'd done this once before. And the dark spirits are her back were only gaki.

They hadn't become a Forgotten yet.

Yet.

"It's gone," Sen whispered consolingly in a plume of white, "There's nothing left."

As she glanced at him he refused to look at her. His foreboding firefly eyes scanned the darkness ahead of them. Silently she watched him fold one of his fans and return it to his waist in a dexterous flick. Kohaku placed the free hand on the hilt of Lin's sword.

"I know," He hushed curtly, "But that does not change the fact that this place is _cursed!_ "

Sen startled as one of the gaki behind her stumbled. Falling on the floor beside her it brushed her leg with its spindly filmy body. Skittering forward she knocked into Kohaku. As he whirled a sword flashed, cutting through the blacker than back. Wind punched her in the face as his bell silenced. And the gaki fell in two pieces. Sen dropped her suzu in horror at the spasmodically twitching halves writhed at her feet. Throwing her against the wall, Kohaku pinned her there as the black parade trundled by unconcerned by its sibling's plight. The other gaki trampled the fading shadow of its corpse until the lost soul faded into nothing. Pressed between his shoulder and the wall, Sen could feel Kohaku cringe over and over as the gaki brushed by. Tendrils of smoke lifted from his armor as the touch of the cursed spirits burned. Suzume's shrill song swelled in the distance, drowning his beleaguered words.

"I should never have abided by her greed!"

His lips split in a grimace and his clenched teeth flashed white in the foxlight that loitered low.

"I should never have let her keep these wretched things locked up in the spare furnace!"

Sightlessly he stared ahead into nothing with a haunted expression or tortured grief.

"I did not understand!"

Stunned by the expression on his face, Sen could only stare as she saw that he was reliving all the same terrible things she was. But then Sen couldn't help but remember the expression of total terror the gaki had inspired in him earlier. His eyes had gone perfectly round until the whites gleamed in the dark. He'd frozen up completely. She'd never seen him look so afraid! She had to yank him around with the suzu to get him to wake up. Now he pressed his face into the rotting wall inches from hers clenching his eyes shut. A wild expression of horror twisted his face as another gaki bumped him. He had told her that this was going to be hard. But Sen hadn't realized how hard it was going to be for him.

She realized she had no idea what had happened to him here.

She had no idea what to say or do to help him in this moment.

So she said something stupidly human that didn't help at all.

"Kohaku," Sen insisted, "This is not your fault!"

His lips drew into a thin dour line as finally he opened his eyes to look at her.

The bitter suffering in his unyielding jade gaze told her he didn't agree.

With a sinking feeling she knew there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise.

You couldn't forgive someone who didn't want to be forgiven.

" _Oi!_ Keep it up, neh!? _"_ Cinna groused from somewhere behind them in the crowd, "All t'bad juu-juu down 'ere's gittin' 'em _uppity_ , neh!"

Sparing a harried glance at the passing gaki, still clutching Cinna's fan in his fist, he looked back at her with a worried glance at her then gently hooked her mask onto her face with the haft. Then he flicked his into place. The sight of his pale dragon face sent a thrill through her chest as he stowed his sword only to point with his sober jade gaze into the black river of shuffling bodies.

"Can you see the suzu?"

Sen locked her eyes on the flash of silver.

"I see it."

Pulling the second fan from his waist he flicked them open in a practiced move.

Kohaku tracked the gaki going by the way a pedestrian watched rushing traffic.

On a gust of wind so swift it knocked her backwards he insinuated himself into their midst.

Sparkling cold magic surged in her blood the making her insides lift her up onto her toes.

Kohaku stood sweeping the fans from side to side in expansive masterful motions.

And the gaki parted, jostling to the side as gold and red flashed in the dark.

But with visible effort he fought to control the score of bodies ahead of them.

As the bells rang commandingly the gaki obeyed.

Swaying to the side as if physically shoved, they pressed to the walls making way.

"Go!" He urged her hurriedly. "Back to the front, dear one; lest they break free!"

Without another word she darted through a break in the hungry ghosts. Stooping, Sen scooped up the suzu and ran. She didn't bother about tempo. Noise was noise and her pounding feet made the bells ring with every step. The ball of foxlight dropped low as if to avoid catching the ropes on fire. Skating ahead of her feet, it illuminated the jockeying gaki that filled the hall ahead. The ones furthest away were fighting Kohaku's hold. She could barely hear Suzume's song here. The angry shadows ignored his commands, thrashing and knocking into each other belligerently as they tried to crawl the walls and go back the way they'd come. She hissed between her teeth as one slammed into her. A great gout of black smoke started up from the lames of lacquered bamboo as they smoldered. Gritting her teeth against the acrid smell of burning hair she gave up on dancing like Cinna had showed her. She would never be able to dance like they could. Instead she played to her own strengths: middle school softball.

Sen swung the suzu wide like a wooden bat. The chiming shimmering song of bells connected with the shadow ahead of her. It cracked against its body in a jarring impact that rattled up her arms. And the hungry ghost hurled into left field. Swatting gaki after gaki aside, the long lengths of silk ribbon at the hilt whipped back and forth like a cracking whip until the rank broke ahead of her. Sweating and panting beneath her mask she made for the gap, all the while hauling them with all her might, beating at them with the unrelenting sound of the suzu. Until, finally, they were back in her thrall. All at once the gaki jolted and followed as if towed behind her by the persuasion of the tiny voices of gold and silver. Pulling and pulling with all her might, Sen put her head down and hauled them forward.

Then violent gusts of wind shoved her from behind.

The blue foxfire guttered and sputtered in the screaming gale.

Shoved forward she stumbled down fat wood planks that dumped down a short stair.

Still on her feet by some miracle, she landed hard on the packed earth floor.

Both wind and the persuasion of bells flooded forward the flock of ghosts behind her.

They extruded out of the hall in almost a solid black square.

Sen was forced to run to keep ahead of them.

She blinked as the walls folded back and the ceiling lifted in the thin fleeing foxlight, revealing the gleaming cure of a copper riveted wall ahead. The massive beaten face was bolstered by shorings of thick dull red brick. It lifted up into endless shadows punctuated by snaking pipes thick and tall as tree trunks. They climbed the slightly curved body of the furnace like vines, following higher and higher as if all the way to the Yubaba's apartment. Painted in pale outlines by the flickering blue flame, vent wheels and dark glass dials glinted amidst their serpentine bodies. At its feet tracks of rails crisscrossed the floor and brimming coal carts loitered in the shadows as if they'd fallen asleep where they last stood. She stumbled over there struggling not to trip and fall. Because ahead of her a riveted vault door as thick as her body lay on the ground.

The fist-sized hinges were twisted as if they'd been ripped apart.

Sen grimaced as the sight set her insides scrambling.

It had been ripped apart.

Buckled out and hurled aside by the Forgotten.

Sen back-peddled with a gasp as she looked up at the yawning grate.

Only now did she realize she'd marched right up to the furnace door.

But there was nowhere else to go, not with the flood of gaki at her back.

Cold fire danced up her back at the contact of their piling bodies.

They shoved her over the lip of the vault into the boiler into the swallowing dark within.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Seconds after Sen darted down the hall the gaki folded in her wake.

She was a flash of gold in the thickening dark, a glimpse of the sun in a churning flood black.

Doubt bloomed in his heart as it had earlier when he first beheld the horde of Gaki. It made him forget Sen's sustaining words. Again his limbs turned frail with paralyzing fear as the blue foxfire over her head winked out of sight, swallowed in the rebounding waves of gaki he had momentarily parted. All the warmth in his body went with her as the light dimmed and in the thickening dark terror chilled his heart to ice. Even though he had been the one who sent her forward, her name flew to his lips on a wild surged of trepidation that urged him to call her back. Forgetting his charge, Haku divided a way between the gaki with the keen edges of Okesa's fans. Rattled by his earlier difficulties, Haku abandoned his control of the poisoned spirits. He fought forward now only to follow her, propelled by the unbearable fear that he might never see her again.

"Oi! _Oi!_ Wotcha doin', neh?!"

Okesa shouted in furious frustration at his back.

But he did not hear her.

The dark pressed in on him from all sides, writhing with the charcoal touch of hungry ghosts. Lost and disoriented in mounting dread, Haku abandoned choreography for violence. Hanoane flashed in the black as he hacked his way through the sooty horde. But even as he punched them aside with angry slaps of crushing wind the gaki barred his way, clinging to the blade like sticky tar. There were too many; even as he shoved one aside three more clotted his path. Panic welled brighter and tighter in his chest because he could barely see in the dark. Cold and quick his breath blew against the inside of his mask in a hissing cloud of white; because the air was so very thin, and there was not enough of it to quell the burning blooming pain in his lungs.

Suddenly bells seized him in their screaming grip. Stunned and disoriented, Haku resisted because they were not Okesa's. All the same he lurched onto his toes at their command and the trundling horde of angry spirits froze around him. As one they turned away from him and surged down the hall. Forced to follow against his will, Haku found himself propelled into a sprint. His brittle legs eroded in the heat of the red coals choking his lungs. The terrible claustrophobic press of the hallway peeled back. Again terror clenched him in its grip and he froze completely as he had earlier. Because here at the heart of Aburaya's corpse the frenzied flood of ghosts had come to pool. And the massive vestibule that surrounded the secondary boiler was dwarfed by the seemingly endless sea of black.

Haku's ankle wrenched as something shoved him hard from behind. As pain zinged up his back in white lines of frozen fire he dumped down a squat flight of steps he could not see. What little light remained blotted out beneath the surface of the churning black shadows. Again sparklers of white consumed the edges of his vision as his head struck something hard. He folded in on himself as the angry hissing scuttling mob bore down to tear him apart. He had no stop watch to hold back the burning claws. He had lost the broken spectacles that might have directed him on a route to freedom between the rushing trample of their feet. But he was no longer a God, and he was not strong enough to force them back any longer.

Cold and unyielding, an eerily familiar shadow fell over his heart.

The bat was wrong: it would not be Garuda who would claim him in the end.

It would be this horrible black tide of needled hands and broken teeth.

Haku jerked in mute shock as incandescent light erupted around his body in eerily blooming flowers of blue. Although they were stunningly beautiful, they spoke to him in angry crackling voices, scolding viciously as they haloed his head and crawled across his body. But the fires did not burn him; instead they harried back the gaki who tore and smashed at his armor, ripping off his mask while trying to crack him like a clam to reach the flesh beneath. But the fires swelled and furled until he was ringed in snapping blue blades of light. These surged up in blinding flashes when assaulted by a belligerent specter that refused to retreat. Reprimanding loudly with sapphire tongues, they soaked the ghost through with a bright stain that spread with stunning swiftness. As the frenzied phantom finally retreated its siblings drew back, looking on in silence as the stain bloomed into fire.

The gaki burned as it thrashed.

And in its final throe it crumbled into a plume of white ash.

 _"Dragon! You must stand, Dragon!"_

Haku jerked again, shrinking from the freezing hands that seized him from behind. He did not hear the voice that spoke as they pulled his upright. Instinct took over and he lashed out with Hanoane. Metal clashed against metal with such force the earth beneath his feet shuddered as sparks flew. As if shaken free the blue lights bloomed upward into crackling constellation of foxfires. These zipped around them faster and faster even as they guttered in the violent wind of Haku's disquiet. Gasping for breath, Haku blinked and blinked as his clouded sight finally cleared. And he went perfectly still, sucking in a sharp breath as finally he saw Suzume. The fox had blocked his strike with the horizontal length of his gold flute. The shaft gleamed in the shifting lights, revealing the deeply placed dent placed in it's middle by the bite of Hanoane's blade. Wide with consternation, Suzume's eyes burned through the pale fluttering curtain of his hacked off hair as he stared at the ruined instrument. Just as overcome Haku could only stare back in wordless horror as his hands began to shake.

It cracked and fell from his charcoal fingers in two pieces.

The hollow sound of it striking the ground robbed Haku of his voice.

It mattered not. There were no words that could undo what he had just done.

The fox had just saved his life.

And he repaid that kindness by destroying one of the God's treasured possessions.

Time seemed to stop on the force of the shame that cut him more deeply than any knife.

Haku cringed from the God in anticipation of violence.

But he came up short as Suzume's face went blank.

The fox's eyes tracked aside, gazing at something behind him. Following his attention Haku saw strange flashes of white light up the mouth of the furnace. He staggered, dropping Hanoane as the God shoved past him. But as Suzume passed he plucked one of the two fans at Haku's waist sash. How they still remained amidst all the chaos Haku did not know. The fox unfurled the red gold silk, spreading the delicate lames with burned black fingers. But for all of his gentleness the fan cracked like a whip as he rang the bell loudly. Still stymied by the fox's strange behavior, Haku jerked back from the sound as a knot of the gaki milling throughout the coal chamber smashed against it head-on. But as Suzume fought to hold them, another copse of unnoticed shadows surged out of the dark and plowed into him from the side.

Thrown from his feet the fox landed hard.

Haku felt the impact beneath his feet.

As a flood of black rushed in to cover Suzume blot of white, Haku roused from his stupor. Diving into their midst he claimed the remaining fan from his waist. With pure brute strength he clubbed the gaki from the fox. But that was folly for the act nearly left him dead with exhaustion. Seizing the God's arm Haku pulled him upright as blue fire seethed overhead. As they stood the angry black tributary wheeled round to rush as them again. Foxfires dropped from above in a rain of whizzing ordinances that exploded in columns of blue that lit up the entire chamber. Unimpressed by the fire the river of black bodies never slowed. As Haku grabbed Suzume's arm to run the fox ripped himself free. He struck forward extended his long body into a commanding pose. As he did the fox stomped his foot and pushed with his fist making the bell on his outstretch fan ring thunderously.

 _CRASH!_

Again the gaki smashed into the sound of the bell.

They piled up against each other in a growing heap of scrambling arms and legs.

But before they could slither free Haku caught them on the edge of his fan.

He spun on his toes, guiding them with the outstretched surface of his silver red fan. Allowing the ghosts to keep their speed, rather than exhaust himself fighting with brute force, Haku finessed the gaki. Haku whirled in the God's shadow using the fox's still ringing bell song as a fulcrum. Gaining speed on its humming edge he darted out in front of Suzume. And the wall of specters the fox fought to hold became ensnared in the rushing current of the ghosts under Haku's compulsion. Startled, the fox stumbled back as the force he fought to master dissolved. Baring sharp teeth he glared wordlessly as Haku continued to wheel him round in swift and dizzying circles. Gritting his teeth as his exposed back prickled with the God's ire, Haku evaded the angry daggers edge of the God's glare. Instead he focused on wafting his fan over his head in smooth grand sweeps. And his bell chimed in long intervals between the rushing whisper of his wind.

 _Ring…! Ring…! Ring…!_

Haku surged forward on a gust of surprise as Suzume lashed out inches behind him. For a moment he thought perhaps the God meant him harm. The fox's gold eyes burned in the shifting lights, but his belligerence was directed elsewhere. Suzume grinned his pointed teeth in grim satisfaction as he unfurled his fan to smash an invading pulse of recalcitrant hungry ghosts.

 _CRASH!_

Again the sound knocked the gaki to stillness as cerulean foxfires erupted into sparkling paroxysms in the dark. The God's white robes and hair fluttered in Haku's wind the ground rolled beneath their feet in the wake of the blow.

"Take them, dragon!" Suzume barked commandingly.

Never loosing speed, again Haku sprinted in a wide circle, eroding the beleaguered clot of shadows with the cunning ever widening current of the spirits under his influence. In seconds the wall of resistance had fallen.

 _Ring…! Ring…! Ring…!_

With slow care Suzume drew back for him, making way for him. Haku could never imagine dancing with Suzume.

But somehow together they danced.

Where the fox's obdurate power became a weakness Haku rushed in with speed and subtlety. And where Haku's strength failed Suzume stepped in to crush whatever opposition fought his influence. In the slowly gathering rhythm of their bell song not an inch of the dark went unseen by their eyes. Until finally there were no unruly shadows left to smash into compliance. Suzume drew back further and further, making way for him as Haku arched by in a sprinting whirl. Even as his breath came short and quick, it was not tight or harried. Even as his legs burned with exertion, they were in no danger of folding. Haku gazed out of the undulating bodies of shadow that ghosted by in hissing currents. Standing in the eye of their storm, Haku realized in a blinding flash of awe that the black tide that had nearly killed him now belonged to him.

 _"Shite!"_ Okesa rasped loudly.

Snapping round his head on a high leap Haku caught sight of the cat.

She was standing on the top stair at the mouth of the hallway, huddled against the wind.

Bristled with shock, she had pushed up her mask to gawk open mouthed at the sight.

"Dawdle not, dragon!" Suzume barked officiously, "Get the beasts to the furnace!"

Holding out his empty hand Haku reached as he wheeled around toward the fox.

"Your fan!"

Folding it shut in a crisp movement Suzume held the instrument at arm's length.

Haku caught it as he deftly pirouetted by.

Twin bells chimed soundly as they cracking whips on the ends of their leads.

And he followed their song, whipping his body around and around faster and faster until all the world was a blur of blue foxfire. Wind simmered in his blood, blowing out of his body until it tore at his bare face. The gale compelled the gaki into a run that left the chamber vibrating with the thunder of hundreds of feet. As the bass sound intensified to almost a roar with a slashing cut of his hands Haku carved a great river of black bodies from the edge of his storm. In another whipping crack of his body so fierce he felt his bones creak and groan, Haku hurled the scrambling tributary at the furnace grate. They plunged through at speed, disappearing without a sound.

Again and again Haku divided and drove off stream after stream of bodies.

Until the last host of the scuttling ghosts clambered through the great mouth of the furnace.

The coal chamber hummed full of nothing but wind and ringing silence.

In the absence of the black tide's resistance Haku folded forward and fell. Momentum tumbled him forward until he sprawled gracelessly on the packed earth floor. Panting and shaking with exertion, Haku rolled onto his back and struggled to catch his breath. He could still feel the ground vibrating with the ghost of pounding feet. His ears were still ringing with the sound of bells. He jerked in surprise losing a wheeze as something dropped onto his stomach. But it was only the cat. And he sagged in relief only to wince as she grabbed his head with her claws, peering into his face with eyes so dilated they were naught but reflective mirrors in the dark.

"I am fine…" He breathed automatically whether it was true or not.

" _Tch!"_ She clucked her tongue at him irritably, "Liar!"

Here Okesa shoved Hanoane back into the sheath at his waist.

Then she slapped his dragon face against his chest.

Haku flinched as it clanked against the lacquered metal making his insides scramble.

Clutching it closely Haku began searching the peripheries of his vision.

"Sen?"

He called out to her, reaching a gauntleted hand. But as his hand remained empty his heart climbed into his throat on a punch of terror that set him scrambling beneath the cat's weight.

" _Sen!?"_

His shout was swallowed as an explosion detonated inside the furnace.

The entire building leapt and rolled as it shuddered beneath the force dislodging dust and showers of rubble from on high. Haku stared in shock as great gouts of white hot fire belched out of the grate like a torrent of burning water. Unlike the cold brush of the blue foxfires, the mortal fire breathed scorching heat in his face that left his exposed skin blistering. He seized Okesa, rolling over and pinning her tiny body beneath him as he turned his back on the advancing inferno. But even as he felt the back lames of his armor blister and burn; even as ash and cinders rained down on them from above; the mortal fire never reached them.

And someone was calling him.

He could barely hear them over the roar of the firestorm.

" _Dragon! Can you hear me, dragon!?"_

Stuffing his face back into his mask, Haku peered through the corners of the oculars. Squinting through the blinding white that scorched even his eyelashes he fought to see. Barely more than an outline, standing over them with his blackened hands outstretched, the fox battled with the river of flame. Like a great white snake it climbed the face of the furnace as if chasing the black clouds churned upwards. Already the high ceiling was filling with pooling clouds of choking acrid smoke. Suzume gasped the air with his clenched fists as if straining to hold back the fire's enormous weight. Clawing at the air he pulled, sinking to his knees even as something invisible dragged him forward. As it did the fox's hands began to smolder and Suzume growled a sharp cry of pain.

It took Haku a moment to realize the God was fighting to take hold of the fire.

Slowly the white tongues at the head of the serpent flickered to blue.

Begrudgingly it retreated down metal walls leaving swaths of scorch marks in its wake.

Sulkily it retreated back into the mouth of the open grate.

Although it boiled there still, threatening to return with long flicks of its many tongues.

" _Nigihayami Kohaku!"_

He rang like a bell as Suzume thundered his name above the roar of the fire.

Never in his memory had the fox called him by his true name.

And he heard him clearly over even the roaring fire.

" _Shut the door! Else we will all burn!"_

Throwing his eyes aside he realized the furnace door was right beside him.

Shaking with haste Haku scrambled to pull a sheet of paper from his waist. Poor Okesa made that difficult; she was clinging to him in absolute terror. Hauling her with him he slapped the page against the twisted metal. But the brush bristles caught fire the moment he pressed it to the paper. The corner of the paper began to smolder as well in the torrid wind. Shielding it in the crook of his arm he bent over both the cat and the page reaching for his blade with shaking fingers. Undoing all of Sen's earlier work, in red blood he quickly wrote the door back into place.

It had weathered mortal fire before. It would weather it again.

As the furnace door gave a jolt the page sank out of sight into the hammered metal. At once the broken face of its great glass eye repaired with a pinging clink. Lurching backwards Haku dragged Okesa with him as it stood to attention like a soldier. It shook from bottom to top as if shrugging off the dregs of sleep. Then it cartwheeled sideways with such swiftness the passing of its bulk made a stunning wind. Again the ground lurched and rolled as the door threw itself against the furnace. The impact threw Haku and Okesa into the air with a clang so loud it made the insides of his head ring and sing. He watched as the wheel on its face turned in a whirl that ended in a soundly locking clank Haku felt deep in his chest.

The scorching heat blotted out in a flash leaving him cold and aching in its absence. But white light still showed in the dark. Looking over his smoking shoulder Haku peered through his spread fingers. He cringed, squinting as he struggled to meet the glaring glass eye of the furnace door. It rattled in its hinges as the flames intensified to the point he could no longer look. Gritting his teeth Haku closed his eyes with a hiss. He flinched as the bulk of the furnace groaned. Several rivets popped, pelting the floor around them with tiny pieces of shrapnel. Haku clung to Okesa as every inch of his body hummed with terrible, terrible premonition.

Because behind that door, somewhere at that heart of that conflagration, was Sen.


	29. Chapter 29

**SEN**

Suzume's foxfire zipped through ahead of her, catching in filtered trails the whirling plumes of gray ash that billowed up around her body as her feet plunged into the soft carpet of cinders within. As she fought her way through the ash toward the center of the incinerator the tiny foxlight drifted higher and higher she realized just how big the furnace was.

It was huge! How it fit inside the Bath House she wasn't sure.

Even more monstrous were the gashes cut into the inside walls.

They were deepest by the door frame. Sen's insides squeezed with panic as more and more gaki poured through the grate. They divided around her in dizzy disordered flocks, crashing into each other before sprawling in gouts of cinder. Coughing and choking on the bitter plumes, Sen struggled to breathe only to realize she couldn't hear Suzume's flute anymore. Blinking rapidly her teeth clicked together in terror as she strained to hear Kohaku or Cinna bells. And her insides seized with horror as all she could hear was the scuttling rustle of hundreds of feet. But as she scrambled to sound her suzu she toppled over with a shriek. Something seized her ankle in a vice of icy agony. Terror punched her in the skull as whatever it was dragged her through the cinders. As something else ripped the suzu from her hand the ability to think fled her head. Instinct took over and Sen caught fire in a panic.

White hot flames plumed around her body, filling the oven to the rafters with light.

With a reptilian shriek the handful of gaki that had her ignited like dry pieces of tinder.

They burned to ash as the rest fled in a hissing rush of spindly limbs.

Still on fire, black smoke rose from her charred armor as Sen shoved herself upright.

But the hungry weight of a hundred dead eyes nearly crushed her back to the ground.

Gathering in the thin light of the floating embers, Sen watched with detached calm as gaki poured through the mouth of the furnace. In wave after wave they trundled through only to mill around in confusion. Then they began to pool up the wall like a swiftly spreading blot of ink trying to find a way out somewhere overhead. Without hesitating she hauled the bow off her back, pushing up her mask so she could pull the string to her chin. Fire erupted from her fingers, burning through her gloves as she kissed the humming string with her bare lips. Breathing to life bolt after bolt of shimmering white flame, the incandescent projectiles of catapulted from the string as she drew again and again. With deadly accuracy the arrows of flame slammed into the walls in explosions of roaring magnesium sparklers.

But trying to pick them off one-by-one was stupid. Still the writhing stain surged upwards until the top peeled away from the wall. It tipped forward over her head in a dark cloud even as patches crumbled into hissing embers. Back-tracking sharply, she tried to escape the edge of its heavy shadow. Sen came up short as she slammed backwards into the opposite wall of the furnace. Terror thrilled up into her throat as she realized there was nowhere else to go. As the black cloud crashed over her she retreated into flames. She fought to hide behind the tongues of white that poured from her skin. Even still, they clawed their way through and tore at her with crumbling cinder fingers. And she couldn't breathe! There wasn't any air left among the press of their bodies! They were crushing her with the weight of their sorrow! Burying her in the ash of their bodies; smothering her with their desperate hate! Terrible memories swelled in mind, setting her flames guttering with icy dread. She'd been swallowed by a similar black wave once before. The Forgotten had eaten her alive. It had stolen her body. It had almost killed everyone she loved.

But she'd downed that monster in the ocean.

And she was going to burn this one to ash!

So Sen opened the grate on the angry white hot coal in the furnace of her heart. It surged free, snapping and crackling demandingly. And she knew all too well it wouldn't burn without fuel. To stoke the flames higher she fed it the only thing she had.

She let herself burn.

Happily she let it have terrible taste of Kohaku's blood and all the horrible paralyzing terror she felt for the possibility his death. She threw into The Fire's heart all the guilt she felt over how Chihiro had treated him. She let it have all her horror over what he'd been forced to endure just to be near her. She threw into its face all her hate for Sengen and the terrible things the Goddess showed her. Without hesitation she dumped into its mouth the crushing responsibility she felt for Lin's loss. Then there was the rage she felt for the destruction the spiders wrecked on Onsen. Into the conflagration she released the guilt she felt for destroying Michio's life. She'd done the same to Satako and Minako. She'd done it again to Kenka, Shouta, Megumi, and Jae. And poor little Fuu and Kana. Even Lydia. What about Kai, Amano, and Kiri? And Hidé? Especially Hidé! And the Bath House Gods too! And! And!

Her insides sang with misery over all the lives she'd disrupted.

All this The Fire ripped this from her hands, snapping it up only to demand more.

Blinded and harried by its hunger she threw into its maw the all the anger she felt for Mrs. Nikko. But the old woman had tricked her into becoming a witch's apprentice out of desperation. And behind all the anger was hiding just how much Sen missed her teacher! But The Fire devoured her longing and loneliness before she could revel in the realization. But still it was hungry. At a loss she hurled into its face the fury she felt at being ripped from her home. She fed the hungry bright coals her resentment for her mother's vacillating frigidity and her father's obliviousness. All of these things she gave over to the fire, until she was casting about for something else. Only to find herself holding the only thing she had left: the selfish grief she felt for the loss of her normal life.

Sen stared Chihiro straight in the face for a long moment.

Then she let the little girl go.

And The Fire ignited like a wildfire.

Quickly it spread to the gaki. As if seeking out the familiar flavors and knowing exactly where to find them it lit up their hate, their anguish, and their fear. White hot heat erupted in its wake even as they crushed her into the sinking ashes. She let them; the pressure only intensified the blaze making the coals in her heart burn hotter. It surged out of her blood, pumping out of her hammering heart, breathing on her short breath. One after the other she opened its kindling embrace to gaki after gaki. She scorched through their suffering; eroded their pain and expended their loneliness.

Until there was nothing left.

Nothing left; except quiet crackling fire.

* * *

 **HAKU**

The great bass voice of the boiler at his back roared in his ears.

It vibrated the entire room. Perhaps even the entire bath house?

He barely heard Okesa's mewling sobs.

" _We's gonna burn!"_

She clawed at the back of his armor clinging to him in quaking terror.

" _We's gonna burn t'crispy crisps! Aye don' wanna be ah chicken dinner!"_

Haku flinched and endured her scrambling hands as he held her close trying to soothe her.

He dare not release her for fear she would run away.

If she did he could not leave this place to chase her.

Sen was in the furnace at his back.

She burned with stunning brightness even now.

But he could not open the door to retrieve her.

Even where he crouched far across the coal chamber tremendous heat rolled off the metal beast's body. Haku would have to wait until what burned inside was extinguished. So he held Okesa tightly even as the cat sobbed louder, because at his back the furnace gave another bass moan. Another rivet popped free with a serpent's hiss, ricocheting off the walls until it skittered to a rest somewhere to his right. Throwing his eyes after it nervously Haku blinked as he caught sight of the fox. Like a thin smudge of ash Suzume was laid out face down on the black floor. Fear spiked in his gut far fiercer than the claws that dug divots in the back of his breast plate.

"Okesa! We must see to Suzume-san, Okesa!"

As the cat struggled still until he caught her small face and rudely turned it toward the fox.

She froze, bristling out and snuffling loudly as she stared.

"Is 'e dead!?" She finally yowled mournfully.

Haku gritted his teeth against the urge to shout at her for saying such a terrible thing.

"That is not helpful, Okesa!"

He gritted the words through clenched teeth and let her go. She clung to him still as he stood like an old man, struggling upright with shaking bones, screaming muscles, and the tiny dead-weight of an ill-mannered little cat. But his foul mood dissipated as Okesa fitted herself under his arm as she had so many times before, bearing his weight with the strength no creature her size could ever muster. He leaned on her heavily knowing full well she could carry him, limping heavily as they staggered to the fox's side. Haku dumped onto his knees beside the God, hesitating and flustering. Okesa crouched on her toes hugging her arms hiding in his shadow all the while staring with constricted pupils around his shoulder at the rattling furnace door.

Her tail bristled into a full brush every time it gave so much as a hiss.

Exasperated with his own hesitance Haku finally pushed back his mask. He winced as his bare skin sang with blistered pain as did the split finger on his bare hand when he grasped the fox's robes and hauled him over onto his back. Haku blinked at the bright spot of blood he left on the filthy white fabric. It was the only color on the God's form save the black stains on his limp hands. Suzume still bore the burns he had incurred while trying to remove the curse Sengen had placed on Chihiro the day she forgot all. Now the God looked and smelled as if he was made of ash. He was still smoldering slightly like a log that had only recently ceased to burn. Still staring askance at the God's charcoal fingers Haku was forced to reckon that these hands had many times acted on his behalf.

He owed much to the fox.

Looking now at Suzume's slack face Haku hesitantly brushed some of the God's tangles hacked off hair out of his face as curiosity got the better of him. Even his brows and his eyelashes were the same bleached white. Losing Hayashimi had robbed the fox of many things, most evident his splendid color. Haku would never admit that he enjoyed the God's sumptuous displays of pattern and hue. As he was now Suzume looked thin and not only to color. He was breathing slowly and there was no visual evidence of injury. But still, a God could fade quickly, eroding beneath their suffering. Truly worried now, Haku dug in the folds of his tatter cloak and withdrew the gourd of sloshing spring water Onsen gifted him. If only Aki had not stolen his camphor leaves; that would have been a better offering.

"Help me, Okesa."

Gingerly lifting the God, Haku had the reluctant cat support his head and shoulders as he uncorked the gourd. Tears welled in his eyes as his heart squeezed into his throat, filling it with pain at the smell that issued from inside. The hot silky water smelled strongly of Onsen. It smelled even stronger of home. Haku blinked rapidly to clear his sight while lifting the gourd to the fox's parted lips. Okesa hissed between her teeth as her face twisted with fear.

"Neh! _Neh!?_ E's gonna _bite_ us!"

She leaned away making his work more than difficult.

"Enough, Okesa." Haku admonished her quietly, "Please hold him still."

Finally he was able to trickle a small dose of water between Suzume's lips. Haku's insides scrambled with relief as the fox stirred. Every hair on Okesa's body stood on end as Suzume's his hands twitched. But Haku glared her into stillness as the fox swallowed. Encouraged, he offered more water and gentle encouragements.

"Suzume-san? Can you hear me, Suzume-san?"

Okesa startled at the sound of his voice, shaking her head vehemently. But as he glared at her again silently demanding stillness the fox's eyes flicked open. In the same moment a score of foxfires erupted over their head in an angry flock of swooping snapping blue lights. There was no time to react. In the same second his back slammed against the ground and ash poured down on him as iron fists closed around his throat. He choked clawing at the charcoal black fingers that threatened to crush his windpipe. But trying to fight off the fox in his current state was useless. Distantly Haku regretted not heeding Okesa's counsel. A bite was indeed the thanks he received for trying to play nursemaid to an unconscious fox.

Haku was not surprised as bells rang and Suzume ripped away.

Gasping and choking, he rolled on his side hauling in breath after breath.

But he wheezed again as Okesa stumbled back only to sit on him.

Flinching from her shuffling feet Haku glanced up in irritation only to blink in surprise at the flashing edges of her twin daggers. Okesa rarely drew a blade. She had confided in his once that sharp edges made it too easy for her to kill. She had a bloody, bloody past. So bloody that her eyes had stained red because of all the blood she had seen. Hence she used the bells and the persuasion of her body to fight her battles. But from his vantage point on the ground Haku realized Okesa was using him as a seat cushion because the fox has backed her up all the way to where he sprawled on the floor. She almost offered her knives to Suzume as if trying to show him that she was ready and willing to deal him a bite of a different kind. Her rasping voice was quiet with unspoken threats as she spoke next.

"'E wuz 'elping yeh!"

The cat kicked the gourd at the fox. It lay on its side between their feet. It rolled over sloshing its precious contents onto the ashy ground. Suzume recoiled from it, sweeping back the colorless hem of his pale pleated hakama.

"Yor angry's still makin' yeh blind, y'stupid fox!"

The fox recoiled further from the strange words the cat offered next.

"Maybe kiddo's right, neh? Maybe yeh's a great big jerk o' otta go home!"

Haku coughed and choked, forcing his newly ruined voice to work.

"Leave him be, Okesa."

She tossed her hip at him and hissed. Still staring between them suspiciously as if expecting more violence, Okesa returned her daggers to the hidden scabbards at her back.

" _Tch!_ Aye ain't sayin' nothing s'not true, neh kitten!"

Waving the cat away Haku sat back on his heels rubbing his bruised throat and struggling to swallow. So very tired of this; so completely exhausted and done with fighting; Haku lifted his haggard gaze as he felt the weight of Suzume's eyes. He looked expecting the fox to be glowering at him with that usual hateful blood lust that promised early death. Instead he received something else entirely. The fox was staring at him askance as if he had sprouted wings or a third eye. Suzume was leaning away from him in the same way Okesa had, as if afraid he might bite. Blinking, Haku flushed as he knew not what to make of this look. Still unbalanced, he flinched and watched warily as the fox crouched slowly. Intense pink tinged Suzume's cheeks as the God looked at anything but him. With his blackened hands he righted the gourd and recorked it.

"Did Onsen gift you this as well, dragon?"

Haku tried to speak but only succeeded in coughing. Suzume snorted in exasperation, throwing up a hand to silence anything Haku might say. Then the massive furnace behind them extinguished as suddenly as it had started. Slowly, as if dwindling to sleep, the glowing bright eye of glass on the door winked out. Haku scrambled upright, staring at the dark circle of glass for a long moment of humming silence. Then, on a blast of wind that sent ashes spinning around the room, he was at the furnace door. Fear made him forget the scalding heat rolling off the metal in waves so fierce he was instantly dripping with sweat. But as he grasped the massive wheel white smoke started up from where his naked hand grasped the metal. The flesh tore and some was left behind as he yanked it back with a gasp. Haku gasped again as Suzume seized him by the scruff and hauled him backwards.

Suddenly left to stand shaking with shocking pain, Haku cradled the raw red weeping flesh of his right hand and stared. The wheel had kept the top layer of his skin and left a blistered and blackened burn across the middle. The sweet sickly stench of burned meat was hideous! He quickly forgot it as Suzume grabbed his hand. Haku cried out in pain as the fox uncorked the sloshing gourd and doused his palm with water. Haku doubled over, falling to his knees grasping his wrist and fighting the urge to be sick. It _burned_ far worse that touching the door! Haku sat back on his heels gracelessly as the fox crouched with him. Baring sharp white teeth Suzume looked for a moment as if he actually might bite.

"Dragon! Are you made of fire!?"

Haku blinked and blinked, still in shock. Then the fox repeated himself, barking so furiously he spit.

 _"Are you made of fire, you fool!?"_

Haku flinched as he stammered his answer.

"N-no!"

The fox continued his bafflingly belligerent interrogation.

"What are you, dragon!?"

Truth slipped out of him as he cast about for an answer.

"I-I am w-wind and w-water!"

Here Haku bent in agony uttering a suffering sound as Suzume doused his hand again. Steam bloomed from his fingers, as did the God's ire.

"This is what happens when water and wind meets fire, Dragon!"

It was a painful lesson indeed, and one he should already know. But like any other human, exhaustion and fear had made him stupid. Placing the gourd at his feet Suzume seized his hand. Haku gasped at the fox roughly massaged the tender flesh. Tears sprang to his eyes and he cringed as Suzume worked the blistered broken skin with his charcoal fingers. How dearly he missed Sen's sweet tears! Even the blades of her hard steely gaze were honey compared to the fox's bitter vitriol! Finally the God stretched Haku's fingers wide, making him bend and cry out as Suzume forced him to look at the wide bar of scar tissue left behind by his ministrations. Haku stared at his knitted flesh in mute surprise. Unlike his hands, Suzume's words were surprising gentle as he spoke next.

"I am made of fire, dragon. Stay out of this until I tell you otherwise. Understood?"

The pressure the fox exerted on his injured hand increased until Haku nodded vigorously.

"Understood!" Haku hurriedly agreed.

With that Suzume stood and swept away toward the boiler. Haku jerked as Okesa all but climbed into his lap so she could seize his hand. He ignored her and let the cat have it as she returned the gourd to his tatter cloak. Gritting his teeth Haku stared after the fox. Strangely the God's foxfires extinguished as soon as they drew near the cast iron face, until darkness flooded the chamber with eerie diffused red light. Both Haku and Okesa shrank in surprise as the fox strained to turn the furnace wheel only to have his hands begin to smolder. Haku's insides scrambled and raced in horror as the fox's face etched with pain. But slowly, just as slowly as he had mastered the licking tongues of the white snake, Suzume's agony turned into concentration. With less effort he turned the wheel faster and faster until the door screeched and gave a tinny pop. Moaning on its heavy hinges it swung open under the fox's insistent pulling.

Haku gasped as an inundation of heat breathed out of the furnace.

Instantly his hand was dry.

It felt like every ounce of moisture in his body evaporated in a second.

As if fighting the current of a flooding river, Suzume bent as he marshaled toward the door.

His spider silk hair flew all around his face in the shimmering currents of heat.

And the sleeves and hem of his kimono began to curl and turn black.

The moment Suzume stepped across the lip of the furnace he burst into brilliant flames.

Standing unconsciously, pulling the cat with him, Haku could only stare.

Because the God truly was made of fire.

* * *

 **SEN**

Laying there in the smoldering ashes Sen marveled at how light she felt.

It felt like a hundred ton weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Opening her eyes she dislodged clumps of ash from her lashes.

Bits of white blew from her lips as her hair curled around her face in long tongues of white fire.

Blinking, she watched in fascination as long lines of glittering red and white cinder floated up from her cheeks. Her phoenix mask was gone. So was her bow. And she seriously hoped she hadn't burned them up too. But her mind slid sideways, leaving her staring blanking. She couldn't remember how long she'd been here. Did it matter? It was really pretty the way the waves of heat radiating off her face made everything shimmer. Strangely though she couldn't seem to move; but as she sank further into the piles of ash she realized it was actually kind of comfortable. It was like lying in a big bowl of flour. She closed her eyes as she found herself tired; so very tired. And the fire was so very warm. It made really relaxing little crackly sounds. But for some reason she was seriously cold. She grew even colder as The Fire flickered across every inch of her skin like pooling water, until only her face bobbed above the surface. She was about to let out the breath she was holding and let it consume her completely because she was so very, very cold.

It was seriously weird; so weird the bell in her heart was clanging in loud warning.

But she was too tired to care.

At least she was until someone called her name.

" _Sen!? Where are you, Sen!?_

The same someone was digging her up out of the smoldering pile of ash.

" _Wake up, child! Wake up!"_

Her eyes yanked open and she stared up at Suzume as fire bloomed around them. White flames climbed up his pale sleeves turning them black to match his charcoal hands. The hungry crackling tongues haloed his spider silk hair, lifting tendrils in waves of heat as his pain twisted face. Gritting his sharp, sharp teeth the God's eyes burned with gold concentration as he mastered the disobedient flames. They turned a harmless blue, transforming to licking curls of foxfire that lifted off his shoulders to float over his head. Stunned, she drew in a breath only to speak only to end up coughing and sneezing. She blinked and blinked helplessly as something got in her eyes making them burn.

"Do not trouble them, child," The fox hushed, "You are covered in soot!"

As she refused to obey Suzume caught her hands and pinned them to his chest. She could feel his heart hammering away beneath her fingers. It was going a mile a minute, like he had run around a bunch. And as the fox continued to stare at her with an overcome expression she was suddenly scared and didn't know why. Seizing handfuls of his kimono she began to shake violently until her teeth chattered audibly.

"I'm c-c-cold, Suzume!" Sen choked in a panic. "Why am I c-c-cold!?"

Holding her tightly as she shook to her bones, Suzume tucked her head under his chin.

He flinched as more weak licks of white fire started up around them.

These he shrugged off making soothing sounds.

"The gaki!?" She demanded weakly, still quaking like a leaf.

Her voice cracked and hissed in her dry, dry throat.

"Gone." Suzume reassured quietly her over the crack and pop of embers. "Burned."

Again her insides emptied as white bright wild relief washed her through.

She sagged in his grip breathing out a long rasping breath as the edges of the world went fuzzy.

For some reason she could hear Mrs. Nikkou singing inside her head.

 _The life of a mortal... Burn it with the fire._

 _The life of an insect... Throw it into the fire._

 _The life of a God... So it becomes the fire._

Reika was singing in a low and droning voice.

Singing that song of rest for the kami they'd freed from the Forgotten.

"This world is dark, but the next is brighter."

And it took Sen a moment to realize she was the one singing now.

Her voice sounded like an old woman's, it was all hoarse and rasping.

Again lines of steam lifted from her cheeks.

She didn't bother trying to hide the tears this time.

What they'd started what felt like ages ago was finally done.

The ghosts of Aburaya's sorry past could finally sleep.

Here Suzume dug his arms into the ash and gently hoisted her out of the pile in which she was half buried. Smoke started up from where they touched but Suzume didn't seem to mind. She, however, winced as her skin felt like it cracked and split in a thousand places. Grimacing, she tasted blood as her dry lips split. Sen blinked as chunks of her armor crumbled and fell off. Frowning sharply she stared in consternation at the blackened patches on Suzume's soot stained kimono.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

Carefully picking his way through plumes of flame piles the fox snorted in exasperation.

"No, child. You are mine. Your fire bites but it cannot hurt me."

She blinked and blinked and blinked some more then fought to swallow but couldn't. Her mouth was too dry. As she looked over his shoulder through the distant glare of heat she could see a gigantic scorch mark. It climbed up the wall behind them all the way to the distant dome of the furnace. Distantly Sen marveled at how tall it was as she rested her cheek on his shoulder, making the fabric smolder. All at once she was drowsing. She forced her eyes wide only to have them flutter.

"Suzume?" She murmured, "Is it okay if I sleep?"

He nuzzled the side of her head with his nose only to turn aside and sneeze sharply.

"Yes, child," he returned mildly, "I will make sure you do not catch anything else on fire."

She heaved a sigh that caused smoke to curl up from her lips.

"Oh, good…"

His low chuckle was the last thing she heard before she conked out.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Standing as close to the door as he could stand, he bobbed his back and forth madly.

But for all his straining and struggling Haku could see nothing of the furnace interior.

"Oi!" Okesa called in disquiet from a distance, "Yeh's _smokin'_ again, neh kitten!"

Blinking down at his garments Haku realized the edges of his undershirt was smoldering. Slapping at the sparking embers he retreated to a safer distance. Shoving his mask back he wiped at the thick slick of sweat on his brow. Gasping for air, he bent over his knees as he felt light-headed with heat. The cat slipped to his side only to begin wafting him vigorously with her red fans.

These she had taken back for fear they might burn.

The air felt blissful against his blistered skin!

He flashed a weak smile by way of thanks for her kindness. But before he could return his mask and resume his vigil, something moved just inside the furnace door. Okesa hissed and fled as Haku straightened abruptly. A violent wind blew out of him stirring great gouts of ash. But even as Suzume stepped over the lip of the furnace carrying Sen the fox called out a firm command.

"Stop!" He thundered. "Do not approach us!"

Haku ignored him; pulling on his mask and coming as close as pain permitted.

He was forced to close his eyes to endure the burning heat.

"You cannot ask that of me, Suzume-san!"

Blindly he held out insistent arms.

"Dragon! Do you wish to burn again!?"

As they drew close Haku was forced to open his eyes and back away reluctantly. With each step the fox took the ground hissed and cast up gouts of smoke. The heat rolling off of them was beyond intense! Suzume's white kimono had turned completely black wherever it touched Sen. At once the exposed fabric of Haku clothing began to smolder. The blue lacquer on his armor bubbled and charred. All the same he held up his gloved hand, shielding his face from the heat so he could search her face. Sen was curled up in the fox's arms like a sleeping child. She looked like she had been rolled in ash. It coated every inch of her body, armor, and clothes. But even the ash could not hide the fact that her hair was no longer pale. As if sensing the consternation in his stare Suzume spoke in quiet explanation.

"She only sleeps. She expended herself entirely in the fire."

Haku was staring still in undisguised awe.

Her was brown again; brown as the day she had fallen into his river.

He could not help but reach, longing to touch it.

"Neh!" Okesa called from the steps leading to the hall, "S'kiddo okay!?"

Ignoring her, the fox addressed him curtly.

"Is there a room with a large hearth somewhere above?"

Haku blinked in confusion as he took back his wavering hand and clenched it into a fist.

"Why do you ask?"

Suzume snorted irritably as if annoyed that he must explain.

"Her fire runs wild while she sleeps. I would not see her burn in a dream what we have fought so bitterly to reclaim."

A smirk half tugged at the corner of the God's mouth as if he found that amusing. As he gazed down at Sen Suzume's face transformed. All his anger fled, as did his arrogance and disdain. It was a rare glimpse of the fox few ever saw. Strange that the bare look of affection in the God's eyes did not inspire in Haku the same stab of jealousy he had felt earlier. But there were many kinds of love in this world and the next. And this was a kind he was not to be troubled by.

Haku bowed unconsciously.

"There is, Suzume-san."

Turning his back on the furnace Haku fled the heat. He pushed up his mask so he could mop away the sweat running into his eyes, he revealed in the swiftly cooling air. Okesa stood on her toes atop the last of the squat stairs so she could peer back at the fox. But as Suzume mounted the steps gout of black smoke started up from his feet where they touched the wooden stairs. Haku backed away as Okesa fled behind him with a startled hiss, because even the white wash of the walls buckled and singed in the fox's passing. Glancing back at the black footprints in their wake and frowning overhead at the singing rice ropes, Suzume's mouth pulled into a grim line as he loosed an exasperated growl.

"The scorch marks are unavoidable! Go quickly, dragon! Else we will kindle a true flame!"

Again Haku bowed, falling back on old habits.

"Keep up, Suzume-san."

As the fox bared his teeth to say something unkind Haku spun and put a wind under his heel.

He caught the cat's hand, towing her behind him as a gale unfurled at his back.

Wind sang in his veins, cooling his parched skin as it propelled him forward.

It snatched mistral fingers through his singed hair as he sprinted down the hallway.

Out of the depths; out of the terrible, terrible dark!

Okesa squealed as he whipped around a corner only to haul her into a hidden rack of stairs. He flew up the four flights of narrow polished wood steps propelled by gust after gust until they spilled out onto the slightly slanted floors of the servant's quarters. Again the cat gasped as daylight broke through the open shutters of the back concourse. Haku's heart sang as he caught a glimpse of blue sky. Okesa laughed gleefully as they darted like birds in a wide spiral, climbing their way up the rack-shamble stacks of uneven verandas, banisterless stairs, and narrow balconies cobbled around the high wooden ceiling of the tall and narrow atrium. Haku had conjured it from memory just as he recalled it. Clothes hung on drying poles. Futons and rugs aired on racks. Beige lantern glimmered dimly in the slanted light of the late afternoon illuminating the thin yellowing paper of the sliders, the dull white washed walls, and the dark burnished wood beams. Work order flustered in the wind of their passing. He could even smell the faint scent of cigarette smoke, ink stones, and orange scented cleaning oil.

"Wot'sit! Wot'sit! Wot'sit!" Okesa demanded curiously.

The cat pulled him to a walk as she planted her feet and yanked on his hand.

Panting for breath he explained shortly.

"This is the servant's quarter. This is where the bath house workers live."

All of a sudden his paced slowed.

Live. That is what he said. This is where the workers live.

And a cloud passed over the sun of his heart.

Because far below the name tiles hung from their hooks on the worker's wall.

Names of frogmen and yuna he knew well.

No one would come to claim them. Not anymore.

For a moment Haku could not breathe for the sorrow that stabbed through his heart.

For a moment he had forgotten, because everything looked exactly as he remembered it.

How terrible that remembering was.

How cruel and crippling.

Turning himself over to the wind at his back he ran, yanking the cat behind him before she could insist they explore. And again she squealed, perhaps thinking this all a game as a fierce blast of speed propelled him up the last steep stack of stairs, making all the sliding doors in their wake rattled and jump in their tracks. Out of another hidden rack of stairs they emerged at the back of the bath house on the fifth floor, the first of the many that comprised the private areas meant to serve customers. At once the halls widened and the ceilings lifted. Polished to gleaming deep burgundies the cross beams and coffered ceiling supported painted panels and sliding paper doors glittering with gold leaf. These finished with fantastic carved relief panels depicting lush green bamboo, swirling pink and yellow clouds, and a panoply of other guilded zodiac creatures. The wide planks of wood beneath his feet creaked and squeaked pleasantly as he hurried by, but Haku did not hear the nightingale floors. Neither did he see the gorgeous crimson banisters with their sumptuously finished brass castings and caps.

Blindly he followed memory down the hallway trying not to see.

Even though it had been repaired, this place was still an echoing tomb.

And all its ghosts remained unseen save for inside the sorrowed eye of his mind.

Haku hooked a hard right to avoid showing Okesa a glimpse of the balcony that encircled the huge central atrium lifting above the bathing area below. Haku, however, was in no mood to play tour guide. Turning into another long hall that divided the outer row of rooms from the inner, he slowed as they coasted into a guestroom that filled in the south-west corner of the fifth floor. Again the open sliders jumped and skittered in their tracks as his wind blew through the room lifting swirls of sand from the wide hearth set into the middle of the floor. This chamber had been built to accommodate larger Gods, hence everything here was oversized, even the grate.

The bronze ringed grate was large enough for a person to lie down within.

There was even a fire shield that bore a sweetly smiling sun.

It would make a convenient back rest that could not burn.

Standing in sudden stillness, Haku was keenly aware of the weight of everything that had happened earlier. The gaki were gone. Aburaya was mostly repaired. But still, anxious fears pushed against his back as if urging him forward. And Haku cast about feeling exposed. All the sliders were open. He could see into every chamber all the way to other two corners of the floor. The halls seemed to bend away from him, bowing in the cavernous emptiness they carried. The same void looked back at him with terrible eyes of nothing, staring silently for it had nothing to say. Gritting his teeth, Haku hurriedly shut the perimeter doors, walling off their room from the rest of the barren hollowness of the rest of the floor.

Untouched by his troubles Okesa skipped to the generous balconies.

The roved porches ringed all the exterior rooms.

She hung off the rail to peer into the bare blue sky.

The fog from earlier had cleared completely but the restless wind remained. It invaded the open sliders, swirling through the room nosily before hurrying out the opposite side. Following the pull of their invisible fingers, from the south windows Haku was afforded an unhampered view of Clock Tower Town. Strangely, even from his vantage, he could see nothing beyond it. Huddled as if in solidarity around the tall pointed spire of the clock tower the narrow swath of slightly shabby leaning buildings extended in a short bar along the opposite side of the swirling plane of nodding yellow-green grass. Cooking fires lifted from between the slate gray tiles of the squat gabled roves. And his keen hawk eyes could see kami moving in and out of the sharply slanting shadows.

Here Haku found himself frowning.

For some reason Gods were congregating on the packed sand of the dry daylight shore.

He could see them pointing.

Then a flash of splendored light distracted him. Out of the west window stretched the sea of dreams. As if beckoned by the salt laden breeze gusting through the open sliders, Haku approached so he could see it beyond the lip of the balcony floor. The water glittered in an unending blue-green jewel beneath the bright mirror of the swiftly sinking yellow sun. Unconsciously he found and followed the black rails of the train tracks as they cut long unyielding lines off into the distant unknown.

Okesa, however, was looking at neither.

"Neh!" She scooted into view pointing at something overhead, "T'smoke stacks goin'!"

The cat jolted as the floor bounced and the banister rattled.

At once Haku bolted out onto the balcony.

Gripping the rail, he stared in tight lipped silence at the tilting chimney.

Black, black smoke was billowing from the top carried high by the strong wind.

Haku backed away from it as again a cloud passed over his heart leaving him cold.

This one was dark as the smoke billowing overhead.


	30. Chapter 30

**HAKU**

He hauled Okesa inside and slammed shut the rest of the sliders on the sight. Nothing but dappled light filtered through the opaque white paper. Thankfully the cat did not protest. Slinking away from him with silent cautious steps, she sank to a seat on her heels by the edge of the hearth watching him with wide eyes. Pacing back and forth along the perimeter of the opposite side of the room, Haku made the fusuma rattle in their tracks as the wind of his disquiet blew out of him. Clenching his hands over and over he glanced nervously at the opening he had left in sliders of the main doorway.

The hall outside was still cavernously empty.

Haku began to fret over whether or not he should go in search of Suzume.

"Neh? Neh?" Okeas cajoled him with endearing sweetness.

Skidding to a halt tight as a wound coil Haku stared mutely at the cat. She beckoned him again, patting the bare boards beside her before flashing him her sweet silly yellow-toothed smile. Because he knew not what else to do he awkwardly darted over to alight beside her. At once he was fidgeting, wondering if he should find some sitting pillows. Before he could get up to find some Okesa seized him, pulling him down so she could hug his head. And his blistered cheek burned with embarrassment as she forced his face into the soft folds of her tiny chest. She smelled very strongly of burned wood; but it did not matter. Purring deafeningly, the cat rubbed her face back and forth against the top of his head. The sound was so very soothing. It poked holes in all his defenses, letting out all the anxious rushing air that was holding him up. Haku sagged in her grip, winding his long arms around her tiny, tiny waist. He squeezed until she squeaked. Giggling softly, holding him thus, the cat rocked him from side to side, still rubbing her nose in his hair and purring louder and louder until it felt as if his entire body was vibrating.

Slowly, so very slowly, the coiled spring in his chest eased until he could breathe again.

Then Okesa's stomach let lose a loud and petulant growl.

In that same moment Suzume stalked through the open sliders.

The God trailed in a cloud of black smoke and a long line of burned black foot prints. Haku lurched to his feet carrying the cat with him as he retreated to the corner of the room to escape the smoldering fox and his precious cargo. Suzume's gold eyes lit up the moment he saw the hearth and in two strides his bare feet sunk into the deep white sand. Easing to a seat with Sen cradled in his arms fast asleep, Suzume sank back against the fire shield and heaved an intense sigh. Here he twitch as it nipped by some small pest. The God frowned as sly white flames crept up from Sen's curled fingers. These Suzume blotted out beneath the smothering press of his hands. Here the fox cast an uneasy glance at the tall ceiling as if worried it might not be tall enough.

Tremendous heat was still rolling off of them in waves.

It made the air shimmer around them as if they fox was conjuring a mirage.

At least they would not be cold tonight.

"What can I do for her?" Haku asked quietly, entranced by the tiny fires.

Suzume cast his eyes around the room curiously.

"When she wakes no doubt she will wish for a bath and a meal."

"And you? What can I do for you?"

Again Suzume glanced at him sharply with that strange cryptic expression.

Quickly he went back to putting out fires.

The Gods next words were casual. The subject was anything but.

"Has she given you any indication when the spiders will arrive?"

Haku froze at the word _spider_. All the warmth went out of him as it sent terrible things crawling through his head. Slowly he set Okesa back on her feet so he might spare a hand for the hidden folds of his tatter cloak. Out of that secret place he withdrew the spinning needle caught beneath a circle of glass. Opening the case Haku stared askance at the spinning dial and summoned Lin's face in his mind's eye. He gritted his teeth with bated breath as it spun and spun.

Finally it swung to the west.

Not too fast but also not so slow.

"They are not close but neither are they terribly far," he pronounced carefully.

Lifting his gaze Haku blinked as he found the fox staring out the window with a haunted expression of longing so intense he was forced to look away as it inspired a prick of spreading pain in his throat. Blinking rapidly he struggled to swallow and found his throat still sore from when the fox had throttled him earlier. Again Okesa's stomach growled loudly and this time she caught hold of his sleeves. Her tiny hands plucked at her heart as well with her quietly whispered plea.

"Neh, kitten? They's got stuff t'eat 'ere? Aye's powerful hungry."

The _they_ she spoke of had been dead and gone for months. If there was anything edible in the kitchens Haku would have refused to eat it. Unfortunately that left only one place to secure a meal and there were no free meals in Clock Tower Town. Lifting his eyes to the ceiling Haku began chewing his parched lip. Yes, he could conjure money using the paper but he could not risk such a waste. The paper was far too powerful to squander on such a base need. Fortunately Haku knew where Yubaba kept all her gold. And what good was gold to the dead?

"All we need to draw a proper bath can be found here. Unfortunately we must go to Clock Tower Town for food."

Haku gestured at the floor before sweeping his hand toward the south.

"Absolutely not! Find something here."

Suzume commanded obstinately as if such a task was not difficult. The God was not even looking at him. He was hurriedly patting out another fire on Sen's shoulder. All the same, Haku prickled at his tone. He knew it well. It was one used to speak to servants. With politeness so cold his breath blew in a cloud of white, he refused.

"Apologies, Suzume-san. But one does not eat the food of the dead."

The fox blinked, glancing at him from the corners of his eyes with a dangerous gold glare.

"Then conjure something."

What a naïve and God-ish thing to say! Haku almost laughed. As he looked back unflinchingly his ire rose. He had been patient earlier; but not now; not in the face of such rude ignorance. The fox bristled as Haku bowed all the while pronouncing his words with careful courteousness, no doubt making them all the more offensive.

"Apologies, Suzume-san. Gods can eat magic. Humans cannot."

Suzume smashed his fist against the edge of the hearth as if attempting to crush Haku's refusal as he had the gaki in the furnace room below. The impact jolted the floor. It also left a deep dent in the lip of the hearth and splintered an edge of the beautiful burgundy floor boards.

 _"Dragon!"_ Suzume growled in a strangled choke, _"I said no!"_

Had he not been in such a mood Haku might have seen Suzume was trying to keep his temper. He might have been able to see the fear in the God's eyes. But he did not. Instead Haku was staring long and hard at the damage done to the floor. Such rage unfurled inside him at the disrespect. He made no attempt to blunt the cruel edge of his bitter admonishment.

"You are made of fire, fox. But must you destroy everything you touch?"

Even as he spoke the words Haku felt them bend back and bite, because he was just as guilty of such carelessness. All the anger knocked out of Suzume's face and he flinched even before wind struck the exterior windows making them leap and rattle. Desperate to flee the fox's presence, the sliders at his back ripped open as Haku invited the mistrals inside. Okesa fled with a hiss as they knocked and jerked in their tracks. Unfazed, Haku produced the rickety western umbrella Onsen had gifted him. As he opened the tines overhead the gale caught him like a bit of dandelion fluff. Gripping the haft tightly, Haku insides seized and thrilled up into his throat as his wind snatched him out the window into the vast emptiness of the sky.

 _Up, up, up!_ He commanded the winds

His stomach flipped and shiver as spinning like a top he gained altitude at a stunning rate.

Haku clenched his watering eyes and gritted his teeth against a scream as frozen wind whistled in his ears, tearing at his body and tingling his singed skin. Finally the pressure on his ears popped and the wind of his anger abated, eroding into a listless breeze. Gently it set him adrift in the empty sky. Forcing his eyes open Haku let lose the breath he had been holding, sobbing in breath after breath as he stared sightlessly out into the endless swallowing spinning blue. Finally, with nothing above him and nothing below, it felt like there was enough room for all the terrible things he was feeling inside.

Haku could have stared out at the sky forever.

Grudgingly he forced himself to look down at the distant ground.

Aburaya had dwindled so small beneath his feet that he might cup it in his hands. Pointing his toes Haku swung his body around the haft of the umbrella, propelling himself into a wide circle so he could inspect the building at all angles from his birds-eye view. As he floated downward the bath house loomed larger and larger revealing its sorry state. He had not repaired the exterior and it remained a slouching faded mess of flaking red paint, smashed glass, punctured yellow paper, broken green roof tiles, brittle dry vines, and dead gardens. Unfortunately there was not enough paper at his waist to bring the Bath House to its former glory. And what would be the purpose of such a tremendous expense of magic bring? Attempting to revive her would do absolutely no good.

How he hated this place! And yet how he loved it!

Bitterly Haku recalled something Amano had said in the swirling snow.

Some things were gone forever.

Some things could never be undone

Sometimes it was impossible to return.

Turning his bitter thoughts back to his flight, again his stomach scrambled up into his chest as he arched wide. His shadow traced a tiny blot of pale indigo across the bridge and the front face of the bath house. Bits of its former splendor glinted and glittered in his eyes as he leveled out slicing a smooth path through the diving wind. Briefly he caught sight of Okesa on the front balconies. She waved a brilliant red fan that blinked like a star as the gold caught the sun. But he could not stop to pluck her up. All too quickly the roof stretched larger and larger beneath his feet. It rushed by in a flashing convex cascade of scales like the surfacing belly of some huge green carp.

Haku, however, was more than familiar with this roof.

He touched down briefly, dislodging several tiles as he forced himself back up into the air. The familiar top gable of the roof undulated by under his feet as the great white, green, gold spire of the back tower loomed ahead of him like a silent watchman. Hooking a foot into the curve of the umbrella's handle he stetched out his gloved hand. With deft accuracy he caught the point of the top spire. His arm nearly yanked out of its socket as he whipped around into a dizzying spin. But his earlier amassed speed was quickly devoured as he blew a brisk wind the opposite direction. Like a spinning top coming to rest, Haku drifted down the steep slope of the patinaed copper roof of the spire, spilling over its gutter and down onto the pocked and pitted concrete observation deck below.

The moment his feet touched down his knees folded.

Dumped to a rude seat Haku scrambled with shaking fingers to fold his umbrella.

He pulled it closed lest another errand wind blow by and snatch him back into the sky.

Keeping the umbrella in hand in case the roof failed, Haku stood on tremulous legs, grasping the corroded metal railing that encircled the narrow platform. Inching sideways he found a narrow door in the white face of the wall. He blinked as the latch of the portal pulled off in his hand, but the door swung inward none-the-less. Inching into the gloomy interior, Haku threw himself back against the inside wall as a whispering cloud of pale mushi dislodged from the interior. The startled flock surged through the narrow slats of the tall ventilation grates, dashing around his body to flee out the swinging door, chattering in his ears as if annoyed at being awoken. As they disappeared Haku was left shivering as his insides skittered and crawled with the dizzying disquieting memory of their crawling touch.

Lucky for him they were not black mushi!

With only the wind whistling in his ears Haku inched forward and peered across the lip of the narrow platform perched atop the domed atrium. There was no railing here, nor did one follow the narrow stairs that encircled the sloping curve of the pale gray wall. Long bars of dim light filtered down from the ventilation grates, punctuated here and there by narrow semi-circles of filthy glass. Large sections of stair were missing from the walls. Haku caught sight of their remains in the piles of rubble that scattered across the broken floor below. Opening his umbrella Haku drifted down onto the wide platform where Yubaba transformed into a bird to fly away on errands. Glass crunched beneath his feet as he gazed up at the empty frame of the bones that had been the great semi-circle window.

Chips of flashing glazing still remained.

They were little deterrent to the whistling wind that blew in from outside.

His insides scrambled as the weather stripped floor beneath his feet creaked and complained. With light steps he picked his way through the piles of smashed stair, careful not to look up lest the bath house dislodge more of the stairs above. Skirting through the dim interior, Haku followed a narrow berth of steps down a back hall only to come up short at the smashed desk that cluttered the landing below. Craning his head to peer through the open doorway, he stared in silent astonishment at the destruction beyond. Creeping forward, he stared all around in mute dismay at what was illuminated in sharp shadows by the thin blades of horizontal light filtering through the distant windows.

Room after room, the havoc remained consistent.

The stately marble floors and moldings were smashed.

Once richly painted in white, gold, and red, the ornate wainscoting was scored by claws.

The once tall mirrors and vases splintered into sharps.

Each glittering chandelier sprawled on the floor like dead jellyfish washed up on the shore.

The same violence had been done to the emblazoned name of the bath house

Where they were not burned they had been clawed out.

Most disturbing were the paintings.

Yubaba was fond of her face and had decorated her halls with portrait after portrait.

Every single one had been blotted out by overlapping blackened handprints.

Just as many charred footprints stamped wide black paths across frayed rugs and faded boards.

Haku did his best to avoid stepping in their path.

In silent testament to the strength of the Forgotten's hate, the viciousness of the destruction intensified as he approached Yubaba's office. The hallways were larger here and the stone archways had been opulently grand with dripping gaudy embellishment. The vestibule was a burned out hush of black bones. Not a single piece survived, not even the ceiling. Haku shrank from the wide sweeping tracks of burned hands and feet that crawled across the remains of the coffered ceiling above. All the same, he crept forward, skirting the walls so he could skirt through the smashed out archway that had once housed the tall double doors that led to Yubaba's office. The interior was just as bleak and broken. But the power of their maliciousness had left more than the visible mayhem. The scuttling ire of the whispering gaki he had faced could not meet the invisible stain of the Forgotten's umbrage that vibrated in the very air he now breathed.

No kami could ever bring themselves to tread here for fear of its infectious touch!

He doubted even Mother Tanuki's greed would have been enough to resist it.

Luckily Haku was no longer a God.

Even though the Forgotten was gone, even though he knew he had nothing to fear, Haku broke out in a cold sweat as terror hummed in his thunderous pulse, making him jump and skitter as shards of glass crunched beneath his feet. Haku startled again as the shredded drapes flapped somewhere like the broken wings of a lame bird. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he licked his dry burned lips. Holding up the folded umbrella, he carefully crept forward into the ruined room, gritting his teeth as the boards underfoot creaked and warped.

Some things, however, remained familiar.

A flash of the gold iris screen still remained collapsed in a corner. He used its splintered bulk and the husk of the fireplace to triangulate the place where Yubaba's desk had been. Only now did he realize the shattered bulk he encountered in the stair earlier had been the witch's bureau. Haku marveled at how far the Forgotten had hurled it. His insides thrilled as he found the rug beneath was not disturbed and barely even trampled with black burns. Why would it be? Gold offered no sustenance to being made of hungry hate. Peeling up the corner with his toe Haku tossed it back revealing the trap door beneath.

Like the harpy she had been, the witch like to roost on her horde.

Kneeling with cautious movements, Haku grasped the brass knob nested in its face and pulled. Dust and ash filtered from the edges of the door as he revealed the vault door below. Staring at the keyhole in its face already his burned hand was in the folds of his tatter cloak as anticipation replaced the singing dread in his blood. Out he plucked the heavy ring of keys Onsen had giften him. Tucking away his umbrella Haku searched the circle for a key one of an appropriate size. He tried one after the other without success. But he continued patiently until finally one turned smooth as silk in the mechanism. A jolt of sparkling elation sang through his body as the lock clicked loudly.

But as the door popped like the furnace earlier it exploded open.

Stunned by the detonation, Haku was thrown back onto the burned carped.

He stared in mounting panic as a plume of cigarette smoke rose from the vault.

Out of the cloying haze the squat transparent shade of his old teacher formed.

" _Y-Yubaba!"_ Haku gasped as he went weak with terror.

Her fat bulbous head dominated her squat body, making the ruffles of her blue silk dress look all the more ridiculous. Gold orbs glittered at her ears large as the protruding pink wart that perched between her bulging purple smeared eyes. But the witch did not look at him. Her cruel cold gaze stared off into the distance as if terribly annoyed. Nervously pacing back and forth midair, she pulled long puffs on a cigarette perched on her lip. She looked as she always did save for the fact that she was see-through. But was then that he realized the massive pompadour of her white hair was disheveled. And his insides scrambled as he saw the bright new blood stains spattered on her ruffled hem.

 _Congratulations, thief. You've found my gold._

Across the room pinned under a board the grinning skull the witch kept on her desk suddenly chattered its teeth and the voice of the late proprietress issued from within. Her imperious nasal voice was tinny and distant like a recoding, because this apparition was no ghost. All the same, the sight and sound of Yubaba inspired in him such strange and difficult emotions, chief of which was anger as she tapped her ashes right in his face. Haku was even angrier with himself as he cringed from cinders that did not exist. He had always hated this filthy habit of her! But here Yubaba flinched, staring off into the distance as if listening something he could not. For a moment he saw true fear twist the witch's haggish features. It robbed her of all the vitality that belied her old-woman shell. And for that moment that was what she became: a tired frightened old woman. Then she heaved a sigh and went back to pacing several inches off the floor.

 _I'm not long in this world and you can't take it with you. So I give you my treasures._

Here the apparition's eyes narrowed slyly.

 _Unfortunately for you no gift is free. Isn't that right, thief?_

Yubaba cackled grotesquely and lit another cigarette, puffing on two at the same time.

 _So you want my gold? Well, then you have to do something for me in return._

She pointed out the smashed out windows of her office. As she did the witch's bulbous eyes drew distant with worry.

 _I sent my son to my sister Zeniba on short notice. Make sure he made it safely._

Here she reached into her hair and pulled out the pin she used to restrain her massive bun. Her wood smoke hair felt around her face in a wild torrent of wiggling tendrils. Bits of smoke curled from her lips as she grinned viciously.

 _Give this to my sister, otherwise the curse you set loose when you open this vault will kill you._

Haku's insides scrambled in white hot shock. He gasped and jolted as a chillingly numb stab of pain seized his right hand. Holding it up, Haku watched in horror. Slowly, as if painted by an invisible ink brush, the scarred pad of his index finger turned black. Cold sweat trickled down his spine as he continued to stare.

 _You have until the black line reaches your heart, thief. Otherwise you're as dead as I am._

Without a shred of pity Yubaba she tossed the hairpin. Haku startled as it landed beside him with a physical thud. The twin gold tines flashed as ruby at its end glittered like a blot of blood. Haku's head jerked up as she cackled monstrously.

 _Luckily you have all my gold to help you along! Don't spend it all in one place!_

With that she evaporated, and her hideous laughter dissipated in the singing wind that flapped the curtains behind her. Staring at the hair pin now, Haku picked it up with shaking fingers. It was heavy and bulky, about the length of his arm and cold to the touch. The ruby fit in the palm of his hand like a great glaring eye. Gritting his teeth Haku squeezed it with all his might as if trying to crush it, because even beyond the grave the witch left behind her curses and the stink of her filthy cigarettes.

Gods above! Did he not have enough _death_ hanging over his head!?

If he could survive the spiders the fat witch was welcome to try her hand.

Until then Yubaba's curse would have to wait its turn!

Shoving the hairpin into his tatter cloak Haku pushed aside his new burden and focused instead of the troubles of the present. Hauling himself upright he staggered back into the lip of the vault. Waving aside the cloying smoke with slaps of wind Haku came up short at the sight of the glittering gold and jewels within. The sight brought him to stillness. As a God he had never been prone to the greed that afflicted other kami. He never understood the fascination with material wealth. It was a base and thoroughly human affliction. How haughty he had been. It was easy for a God of high status and power to think little of the weak. Haku finally he understood why the bath house kami had given up their names for a mat to sleep on, a bowl of rice, and the protection of a greater strength. Humans a Kami shared many similarities on that front; strange that Gods could not see that.

But at first he had not been able to see either.

All the bitter ghosts of his past seemed to be visiting him today.

Angrily Haku remembered heated words Hidé had thrown at him in the Kumomi alleyway.

 _I'm not a God. I can't love her like one._

 _All I can do is love her an' take care of her in ways only a human can understand!_

 _I'll work harder'n I've ever worked t'bring home money so she doesn't have t'pay for me!_

 _I know she's already got a roof, but I'll make sure it stays there an' stays strong._

 _I'll cook for her an' make damned sure she eats._

 _I'll make sure she doesn't tear out all her hair while chasing after all of you._

 _I can joke around to make her laugh and smile when she's sad._

 _And I'll protect her from thing you can't even begin to understand._

Haku, however, did understand.

 _Can you honestly do all that? Can you?!_

He could and would; and he did not have to measure his worth by that stupid human's judgments. Brewing inside his head like an angry storm, Haku plucked a bag of heavy bag of gold from the horde gritting his teeth as he accepted the witch's bargain. Little did Yubaba know that he had already been charged with finding her sister. The fujo of the Oni Rocks had told him to seek Zeniba in Higashiyama. She had tried to kill him also.

Haku was growing so very tired of having everyone and everything threaten his life!

But here he came up short. Tucked beside the neat stacks of gold and silver bricks, completely at odds with the glittering strings of opalescent pearls and precious stones every color and hue of a rainbow, was a packet of papers. Blinking rapidly Haku pulled the envelope free, unwinding the sealing string so he could remove the pages inside. As he did he froze in amazement as he recognized the employment contracts. Hurriedly riffling through the pages Haku found Lin's contract. He recognized the messy script of her hand immediately. This he set aside with careful fingers and sought the other names burned across the face of his heart. He found Natsumi's atop Hika and Ginko's. Yoshi's contract was also strangely close to Little Green Frog's. Aniyaku's contract was almost at the bottom as he had been at the bath house the longer than the rest. No wonder he was so full of vitriol.

Haku gazed down in quiet elation at the small stack of pages.

Each held a precious name and a small piece of freedom that he could return.

In all things there was a price.

Sometimes, however, fate afforded the small kindness of being able to give back something taken.

"Neh? Neh!?"

Okesa yowled tremulously. Her voice echoed from afar, glancing down the ruined hall.

"Where's yeh at', neh kitten!"

On his feet Haku spun toward the sound or her voice carefully tucking the contracts into his tatter cloak.

"Do not come up here, Okesa!"

He cautioned even as he fled the witch's office. Again she meowed petulantly like any lost cat.

"How's tha', neh!? Aye don' even know where aye's at 'n' s' _scary_ up 'ere!"

At once he had his compass in hand and the needled snapped to the side, pointing the way.

"Stay where you are, Okesa! I am coming to you."

On bare feet Haku ghosted down the dark hall of the fifth floor. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor trying not to feel the pressing black at his back. The heavy trays in his hands did not so much as slosh as he balanced them perfectly. Beneath the lids of the chipped pottery the meal was by no means meager. Miso soup, steamed rice, grilled fish with shoyu, and sour pickled plums. Still, it cost a fortune. Food was scarce in the Spirit World. Just as silent, Okesa skirted ahead of him carrying a lantern and her much coveted bottle of sake. He could not deny the cat anything hence he had fed her twice already. Though the libation had not cost him nearly so much as the steaming cup of matcha that sat under cover on the fox's tray. He had brewed the frothy drink in a black tea cup rimmed in gold. The tiniest packet of the green powder had cost the same as their entire meal. Haku had astonished the merchant with the fat coin of gold. The haughty yokai had tried to shoo them from his shop the moment they entered.

Again, it was the small kindnesses that made this world of suffering bearable.

Haku glanced down at Okesa's glossy black hair. Her velvet ears were still damp from the bath he had drawn in one of the servant's tubs beside the kitchen below. She had shed her black gi and all its trappings returning to her voluminous cowl neck sweater and torn jeans. Haku was equally refreshed by the coal heated water; although his blistered skin was still raw with cracks and blisters. Like the cat he had stripped his armor and wore one of Onsen's indigo yukata. Again he was left feeling terribly exposed even though he carried his arsenal and a fortune in treasure amidst the secret folds of his tatter cloak. This was tucked into the front fold of his clothes just over his heart. Unfortunately, even now he had not been able to remove the blue jewel from around his neck.

It was a cold point of annoyance against his breast bone.

As they rounded a corner he could see dim light filtering under the frame of the fusuma. Okesa set down her bottle to open the slider. She loitered on the other side of the door as if afraid to come in. Haku steeled himself for the fox's wrath as he passed her by and entered the room. But he was greeted only by silence and not angry barking. Even though it was not winter in the spirit world, the gentle heat that filled the room with welcome warmth as the night beyond the sliders was dark and cold. Haku came up short at the sight of the white light filtering from the hearth. With her back to him Sen lay on her side in the white sand still fast asleep. Placid blooms of fire lifted in flickering curls from her composed hands; more haloed around her head where it pillowed on her arm.

Suzume had removed her sandals and tabi.

These were piled neatly at the foot of the hearth beside him.

Laid out on the boards above were Sen's suzu, bow, and the glinting visage of her phoenix face.

But much to his dismay the fire had completely eroded her armor.

All that remained was the quilted garments that once belong to Reika Nikko.

A cold lick of fear started up inside his chest as he caught sight of the fox. Suzume was kneeling on the edge of the hearth looking like a gaunt specter in Sen's light. Dark circled ringed his eyes, made darker by the black burned splotches that bloomed across his kimono. His charcoal hands were clenched into fists on his knees. In each he clutched a broken half of his flute. Haku's worry intensified as Suzume did not so much as move when Haku knelt with him. Worry bloomed to full panic as he realized the God had turned transparent!

Setting aside the trays Haku forced the soup into the fox's fading fingers.

He had to help the God drink.

Suzume's hands were not substantial enough to hold the bowl.

As quickly Suzume drained it Haku replaced it with the butterflied fish he had grilled on sticks over coals. The fox at the fish bones and all, snatching up the rice bowl Haku offered next. Abandoning all his usual decorum the fox ate with his hands like any other starving creature, all the while making needful sounds. At least his hands were now substantial enough to hold the pottery. Drawing back, Haku looked on with embarrassment, forced to stay as the God continued to reach for more. Haku gave his own meal to preserve Sen's. He could easily make more food. Finally all there was nothing left to offer but the cup of matcha. Suzume choked as he gulped it only to shake as if finally rousing. Staring into the cup the fox blinked rapidly as it doubting his senses. His milk white face reflected the green brew within. Slowly he brought the cup to his lips with shaking fingers and inhaled the steam deeply. Turning the vessel twice in a ritualistic gesture the God slurped down the contents in several sips. No longer see-through, Suzume sagged back onto his heels heaving a long sigh cradling the cup as if it had given him his life.

Shame seared Haku's heart as he crouched beside Suzume witnessing his suffering and relief.

Even though he knew it would do no good, he was compelled to speak none-the-less.

Planting his palms on the floor Haku bent his head over them in a sincere gesture of contrition.

And he could not stop staring at the broken halves of the fox's flute.

They had rolled into the ashes of the hearth, gleaming brightly in the dark.

"I… I apologize, Suzume-san… For the unkind words I spoke earlier."

The fox heaved another long and gusty sigh.

He hung his head in exhaustion still cradling his cup.

"Do you know why I cannot abide by you, Nigihayami Kohaku?"

Haku sat up perfectly straight in the dark as the fox once again used his true name.

"I cannot abide by you because, for all your stupidity and weakness, you are _stronger_ than I am!"

Stunned to stillness, Haku could only listen as Suzume poured out his heart.

"In spite of all my slights and insults. In spite of my cruelty and violence. Still, you show me… _kindness!"_

Suzume pronounced the word in a ragged hush as if it baffled him. Choking on every word, bending beneath them, Suzume wrung his hands around his cup.

"But I am not as strong as you! I cannot show you kindness! You who brought the spiders that took Hayashimi from me! And yet I cannot _hate_ for you for it either! I have seen in the face of both a villain and an innocent the terrible toll such hatred can take! So what am I to do with you!?"

Retreating beneath the pale curtain of his hair the fox continued to grapple with himself.

"Sometimes I wish I was something other than fire. Fire cannot flow and patiently erode like water. Fire cannot divide round and pass by the insurmountable like wind. Fire _burns_ until it _starves_!"

In his vehemence he crushed the cup in his hands only to stare at it in hollow haunted horror.

"It is as you say! Fire _destroys_ everything without thinking!"

Truth slipped out of the God in a whisper Haku was not meant to hear.

"O-Inari-sama help me… You are not the only one I have hurt!"

It was more than difficult to see in another the same terrible self-loathing that afflicted him. Sitting there in the dark feeling utterly useless, Haku flustered his hands miserably. How many times had Sen weathered such fits of his? No doubt Suzume's as well? Haku wondered if she felt just as terrible as he felt now? How awful it was to watch someone you cared for suffer!

More than angry the fox threw the shards of his broken cup across the room. Haku gritted realizing he must have made some noise, bowing automatically as the fox barked.

"What now, dragon!? No amount of bowing and scraping could possibly make any _difference!_ "

He kept his head down but not out of meekness. As he had earlier in the furnace, Haku approached the fox with patient obliqueness.

"This is true, Suzume-san; but still I bow and humbly request that you endure my presence."

Haku pronounced each word calmly hoping they might soothe the fox all the same.

"Wind can breathe life into a fire that dwindles, just as water can quench a blaze that has begun to burn out of control. Fire can burn anything that stands in water and wind's path. Together we are stronger, Suzume-san. This we proved in the furnace. And together we will take back what has been stolen."

Haku was rewarded with silence. Encouraged, he hesitantly offered the next.

"Perhaps then things will be different between us."

Slowly the tension lifted from the darkness as again Suzume sighed long and hard. He sounded much more centered as he muttered his last word grudgingly.

"Perhaps."

With that the fox stood and swept out of the room.

Haku sagged forward onto his knees letting free the breath he had been holding.

It was only as Sen sat up wearing a halo of white flames that he realized she was awake.

* * *

 **SEN**

"Kohaku..."

His head jerked up as she rasped his name in a dry, dry voice. In the dim light lifting off her shoulder she could see he had gotten pretty badly burned. Heat blisters concentrated around his eyes and his cracked lips making him look like a red tanned tanuki. He was missing most of his bangs and his eyebrows too. The worry she'd usually be feeling was very far away. He was alive. She was alive. It was a miracle yet all she felt was dim satisfaction. Calmly she took him in and noted he wasn't covered in soot. Soot: it fell in a curtain off her face as she blinked. It clumped on her eye lashes and the corners of her bitter tasting lips. It was even in her nose, thick like paste, making her want to sneeze. It was even itching inside her ears.

Then she blinked as blue flashed around his neck.

For a long moment she stared at the glinting jewel.

It hung on a silver chain around his neck gleaming like a tear against his pale bare chest.

But now Sen was frowning at his clean yukata.

"Is there a bath?"

Again the words hissed from her throat but still she couldn't swallow. Haku offered a bowl of broth. She tried to take it only to hesitate as he winced and leaned away. At once the soup was boiling in the boil. Withdrawing her hands, Sen stared at her still burning fingers. Pulling a vaguely irritated moue, she wrung them together only to have the placid licking tongues escape between her fingers. Sen snorted as finally she understood why she was laying down in one of the recessed hearths. Closing her eyes she once again opened the door on the furnace in her heart. The unruly fire wasn't too happy about going back to its cage. But for some reason it heeded her.

The room plunged into darkness until Cinna crept in carrying a lantern.

Sen glanced at the cat as she set the lantern just inside the sliding doors. Then she skittishly skulked back outside. The jumping yellow wick cast long shivering shadows that danced around the empty room, making quivering hatch marks across the fusuma. Gratefully Sen took the soup bowl with shaking hands as Kohaku offered it again. She gulped the broth only to choke. She hadn't expected her insides to hiss and fizzle at the introduction of liquid. It was a super weird sensation! And steam poured out of her mouth and nose making her cough and gag. She stood up in the sand shaking her hands and squirming uncomfortably. Kohaku stood with her cringing back in dismay.

"I am sorry dear one!"

Sen coughed and coughed as she waved off his concern.

"It's okay!" She wheezed through the steam, "It just feels really, really weird!"

As he hesitantly offered her the soup bowl once more she tried again with better success. It was really, really good too. She managed to drink it all without having it turn to steam. As he offered her a bowl of rice she shook her head for fear it might catch fire in her mouth.

"Bath first."

Glancing at her things, with feeble hands she threaded the articles into the cavernous storage of the magic box in her pocket. Standing shakily, feeling the thousands of aching cracks all over her skin, Sen gingerly patted at her clothes. That was a bad idea and she dislodged a cloud of ash. Her skin was thick with it. So was her hair and it itched really badly. Back to coughing and wheezing, Sen blinked as Kohaku offered her his hand. Staring up at his wide solemn green eyes, she almost refused because of the blisters on his face. But as she took it a jolting shock went spidering up her arm. Finally feeling found her again as she giggled nervously as she shook her jittery fingers. Kohaku, however, didn't laugh.

He jerked back his fingers like they'd bitten her.

All at once he was staring dourly at his hand.

A brief gust of wind blew out of him, making her ashes billow and circle.

Clenching it into a fist he offered her his left hand.

Sen blinked, dislodging more soot as the bell in her heart hummed ominously.

Something was wrong. She knew it instinctually.

Before she could ask he was hoisting her to her feet.

He steadied her as she wobbled; his gentle voice hushing in her ear making her shiver.

"Can you walk, dear one?"

She nodded, not wanting to hiss. Still he kept her hand, stooping to pick up the lantern as they exited into the hall. The flickering flame changed color, turning incandescent white whenever it got near her. The tremulous flame cast fantastic shadows through the super creepy cavernous interior as they picked their way through the dark halls and stairs. Feeling came rushing back to her in the absence of her fire. Sen scared herself several times as brass fittings gleamed like glowing eyes in the dark. Each time the flame in the lantern sputtered large, pocking the paper exterior with burn marks.

It was a long walk down to the servant's quarters. She got scared, a lot.

And most of the lantern paper was gone by the time they arrived.

As they climbed carefully down the steep banisterless stair into the narrow press of the quarters at the back of the bath house Sen instantly felt more at ease. The low ceiling, close drab walls, and tiny unassuming rooms reminded her of Onsen. Kohaku led her to a closet of a bath at the very, very back. Behind the tall slats on the shuttered doors the interior was utilitarian white tile and the tub was barely big enough to soak in. A single frosted pane the size of her fist opened to the night sky outside. But the steam was thick and a fat bar of soap waited on a wash cloth in a squat wooden pail perched atop a short slatted stool.

Without hesitation she began shucking her clothes expelling more plumes of ash.

Untying the dagger from her belt she pulled out the geihobako.

Kohaku went pale as ash at the sight of them.

He turned his back as he set the lantern on the tile.

"I will leave the light."

He stammered shyly as he retreated outside the slats. Sen barely heard him. She was too interested in being clean. Perched on the edge of the stool she dumped bucket after bucket over her head, dipping the hot water out of the tub until the floor was thick with mud. Attacking her hair with soap, Sen suds herself thoroughly all the while wincing and gritting her teeth at the stinging pain. But this wasn't Onsen's water, and the hurts didn't just melt away. Rinsing and washing one more time, there was just enough water left in the tub to climb in for a quick soak. Luckily her fire was thoroughly smothered and the water didn't evaporate. Hugging her knees so she could wedge herself into the narrow basin, Sen heaved a sigh as she missed Onsen's proper bathroom. Rinsing her mouth Sen gargled then spit over the edge of the tub. Slouching in further, fiddling with Kohaku's scale and marveling that the cord hadn't burned, she just managed to get the water over the top of her shoulders. It was tepid now. But it still felt good on her parched skin.

She must've fallen asleep.

When she jerked awake up she was wrinkled like a prune!

Climbing out of the bath Sen rinsed the floor as best she could. Padding through the puddles, she peered through a crack in the shutters. Her clothes were gone, replaced by one of Onsen's blue yukata. Kohaku had probably brought several with him. As the lantern wick sputtered and flickered brighter in response to the kindling emotions in her heart she cast about for him. But the dragon in question was nowhere to be seen. Wrapping herself in the clean camphor smelling cotton, she tucked up the extra length and trussed it around her waist with the narrow obi. Stuffing Sengen's knife into the box, she squished it flat and tucked the thing into her waistband.

Padding down the bare boards of the hall Sen carried the lantern with her. More light spilled from a distant source, pouring out of the wide sliders of another much larger wash room along with significant heat. Inside against the far wall a row of massive bubbling copper kettles big enough to boil a human in squatted on raised brick ovens full of glowing coals. Thin wisps of smoke escaped the vent holes in their faces. Beneath the filtered light of another lantern that hung overhead the wet tile floor gleamed as it slanted inward to a metal drain plate. Beside it a washboard listed inside another fat short tub full of ashy soapy water. Overhead her freshly washed clothes hung on drying poles wafting in the breeze from the open windows at the back. Beneath them, getting dripped on by the work he had already finished, Kohaku drowsed on a stool.

He had trussed back his sleeves the same way the other bath house workers did.

For some reason that struck Sen as did the fact that he knew how to wash clothes.

Again the lantern flickered bright in response to the melting feelings in her heart.

Here Sen blinked, frowning at the piece of coal deposited between Kohaku's bare feet.

Picking it up, she found it dry and crisp even though the floor was wet.

She popped the lump into one of the ovens then she came to claim the sleeping dragon.

He didn't resist as she threaded his long arm over her shoulders, stooping with difficulty to pick up her lantern. Staring long and hard at the wick overhead trying to figure out how she was going to extinguish it, Sen blinked in surprise as she smothered the flame with her eyes. That was a neat trick! She'd have to remember it. Guiding Kohaku out into the hall Sen realized he really was asleep on his feet. As he teetered back and forth she struggled to keep him from falling, walking him past the row of closet baths wondering what she was going to do with him only to realize he'd already fixed a room for them. Just around the corner from the baths two futons lay side by side in a tiny three tatami sitting room. They nearly filled the interior, which was fine by her.

She snagged the lantern onto a hook overhead and rolled Kohaku onto one of the mats. He sighed as his long body unfurled until his feet knocked the opposite wall. Sen opened the outside sliders to make room for his toes, closing the fusuma at their head on the rest of the servant's quarters. Pulling her mat right up next to his Sen shook out a threadbare quilt and pulled it across them. Then she drowsed the yellow flame to sleep with her eyes. As if afraid of the spilling dark Kohaku turned over seeking her with his hands. She squeaked as he dragged her across her mat, pulling her close with a rough urgency she hadn't expected. He squeezed her so hard her shoulder twinged with a stab of pain! But he was still asleep and he made a pillow out of her shoulder. As the iron bar of his arm eased around her waist he grew heavy as the tension bleed out of him. His breathe whispered hot and slow against the bare skin of her throat making her shiver with needful sensations.

Turning her nose into his hair she inhaled deeply.

But he smelled only of dead burned things.

The smell hit her like a slap.

Gone was the muffled sense of peace she'd been floating in earlier.

Because all she could see was the fire. Not white fire. Not her fire.

Instead she saw the angry licking yellow green of the godfire Sengen showed her in the mirror.

Sen struggled to swallow and once again found she couldn't.

Her throat closed on a pinch of white cold terror.

Yes; they were alive. Yes; the gaki were burned and the bath house was theirs.

But that meant they were that much closer to what she'd seen.

Sen couldn't help but wonder if they'd survived just because another end waited for them? It was a stupid useless terrible thought! Angrily staring long and hard at the low ceiling overhead Sen blinked as a scorch mark formed. Forcing her eyes closed, she caught the distant sound of waves lapping at the foot of the Bath House. The smell of salt water breathed in from outside but still it smelled faintly of burned things. Sen couldn't sleep, not even as she felt the soft thud of Kohaku's heart through her ribs. But she couldn't get up either because he was a heavy weight on her shoulder. She couldn't even take comfort in holding him.

Finally as she began to drift off; but even as she slept Sen got no rest.

She dreamed of fire and the horrible hollow scream of a train's whistle.


	31. Chapter 31

**LIN**

" _Wake up! Wake up, Lin-sama!"_

She resisted, curling in on herself and cuddling into the warm body beside her.

She must've worked hard because she didn't even remember falling asleep.

But someone kept shaking her.

Lin didn't want to wake up yet. She didn't want to mop floors or scrub tubs.

But then she recognized the voice.

And it all came rushing back.

Jolting wide awake, Lin squeezed Kokoro in surprise until the kit gave an unhappy squawk. Scrambling back Lin knocked into Kiri startling the sleeping human awake. Lin's heart lurched up into her throat on a punch of terror as she found Tomoe looming over them. The transparent specter was pressed at the edge of the big bed strangely still in the constant side-to-side jostling of the chugging train car. Kiri made a strangled squeak, seizing Lin's arm in an iron grip pulling with all her might as the human gawked at the ghost. Ignoring the girl's panic and not so much as budging; Lin hurriedly threw her attention around the room looking for real danger. She gritted her teeth as strange shadows chased up and down the walls, skittering back and forth beneath the desk and upturned furniture, cast in fanciful lines by the listing light of the dim mushi trapped in the chandelier globes overhead. Shurui's office was still a mess with papers and furniture strewn throughout the narrow length. But it was empty save for the human and the ghost. Lin loosed the breath she was holding, blinking as Tomoe bobbed an apologetic bow whispering quickly words she barely heard over the hollow echoing clack of tracks.

" _We have entered the tunnel leading to Clock Tower Town!"_

Lin jerked again as brakes squealed and shrieked beneath their feet.

A rattling shiver lurched through the car that sent Lin and Kiri sliding across the satin sheets even as Tomoe remained anchored in place. Still the wheels beneath them screeched as they struggled to throw off the speed that had hurtled them forward, making wood boards and metal shutters protest and moan as finally the train came to a shuddering, hissing stop. Even as the human clung to her Lin tore free. Instinct propelled Lin to her feet on the edge of the sudden forward momentum humming in her bones. The stillness was unnerving and it made Lin wild with the urge to run. Her insides echoed and rocked with the suddenly absent _clickity-clack clickity-clack!_ She almost listed from side to side Lin began pacing back and forth squeezing Kokoro until she burbled and struggled against the bare skin inside the part of her yukata.

And the words were rushing from her lips before she realized she was speaking.

Her eyes bore holes through the iron shutters, seeing without seeing what she knew was there.

"There's underground station with a staircase on the right sight of the tracks. It'll take you up to a clock tower. To your left there's a tunnel. It'll take you back to the human world. Follow the old road out to the city. Find a telephone! Call Onsen! Tell the others where we are!"

At once she hurriedly shoved Tomoe toward the door.

" _Lin-sama?"_

The ghost stammered in confusion as he remained.

She almost slapped him in harried irritation.

But she only had one hand and it was holding Kokoro.

"You've still got Kaonashi in there right?"

The ghost shuddered then nodded twice the same way that stupid mute specter always did.

"Kaonashi knows the way. Go! Get out of here!"

Tomoe glided aside only to hesitate again, making her want to kick him!

" _Come with me, Lin-sama!"_

He reached with strangely solid hands that emerged from his transparent middle. Lin sank back into the edge of the futon as he continued to reach. Immediately Kiri seized her by the back of her yukata, folding up in the small of her back shaking with fear. Growling the words between her teeth in a warning, Lin refused.

"You know I won't."

Here Kokoro cooed and struggled, making Lin heft the kit's weight with her only arm.

Visibly exasperated, the ghost turned to offer his hands to the human.

" _Ikiri-san!"_

Kiri stared at them unseeing, retreating deeper into the thick cloud of despair.

"No… I can't go… He won't let me… _"_

Before Lin could ask what the hell Kiri was talking about Tomoe's porcelain face twisted with conflict as his voice issued in a harried whispered hiss that set her insides crawling.

" _I swore I would not leave your side!"_

"Please!"

Lin insisted hoarsely.

"Go! Find Suzume!"

Her voice broke on the fox's name, threatening to close on a welling pinch of pain.

Slowly the ghost gathered his hands back into fists.

Then he nodded twice and faded away into nothing.

As her insides turned hollow with despair Lin stared long and hard at the spot he'd been.

And she wondered if she'd made a terrible mistake.

Lithe and silent as the shadow that just left, Fumiko slipped through a crack in the door.

Lin jolted to her feet as the spider gazed at the spot Tomoe once occupied.

"He's been with you all this time waiting for this moment. Why didn't you go with him?"

Stunned by her knowledge, it took Lin a moment to regain her senses. Already Lin was forcing Kokoro into Kiri's hands. Putting herself between the human, her baby and the spider, Lin reached for Umi's knife. At once she was stone, steeling herself to kill Fumiko before she could raise an alarm. Something, however, made her hesitate. Any other spider would already be calling for help. But Fumiko had obviously knew about Tomoe. She had watched everything that'd just transpired and hadn't gone to tell the others. Any other spider would already be dead. But Lin didn't want to kill this spider. Something was different about her. Showing the spider her teeth, Lin told the truth.

"I won't abandon my son!"

Fumiko nodded at that.

Her face cleared with gentleness as she gazed past Lin to Kokoro.

"Spoken like a real mother."

She spat the last word with dripping derision and Lin knew she was talking about Shurui.

Fumiko smoothed her checkered apron.

She wasn't looking at the kit anymore as her red eyes went distant.

"You asked me why Shimizu and the others show me such respect. It's because I refused to abandon our sisters in Shitamachi."

Lin blinked rapidly, making the scar on her face pull and pucker.

Diverted from her intent to kill, Lin could only stare at the spider.

Horror tightened Fumiko's brow as she began gathering handfuls of her apron.

More and more hands appear to bunch and twist the fabric into deep wrinkles.

"One of Shurui's lieutenants found us in Shitamachi after the aftermath of the Wheel. But she refused to bring us to the train. They hadn't expected survivors. When one of her subordinates protested the lieutenant killed her. She'd gone mad with _blood_ and _fire._ It's happening more and more frequently."

Again Fumiko went back to smoothing her wrinkled apron as her white face became a mask.

"I'm small and pretty. No one expects anything but submission from me. I killed that thing with my bare hands when my sister soldiers hesitated. I called them to order in the aftermath. I showed them the way back to the train. Between us we carried out every woman, girl, and baby you saw in the passenger car."

More than unsettled by all this, Lin stared at the spider askance.

Uncertainty forced her to speak, because in spite of the woman's actions, she was still a spider.

"Why are you helping us!?"

Fumiko's white face was still carefully calm.

Her ruby eyes, however, glittered dangerously as they returned to regard her carefully.

"All we have left in this world is family,weasel woman."

They stared long and hard at each other in the ringing silence.

Then Lin dropped her only hand from the dagger hidden at her waist.

She'd only be able to use it once.

In time that moment would come.

This was not it.

Lin planted her only hand on her hip and tossed her head at the ceiling.

"If Shurui wants coal she'll have to buy it."

Here Fumiko sighed gustily. Her face pinched with a worry Lin found far too familiar.

"I am more concerned about feeding my sisters. All the food is gone and we have no money."

As if she couldn't sit still Fumiko began tidying up. Stooping to pick up papers, Shurui's messy office came to order under her flock of hands. Turning her back on Lin, Fumiko sighed again.

"Shurui's demanding our sisters to put out our best. She means to make a grand parade into Clock Tower Town, probably to bewitch and swindle what she wants out of whoever she can."

Lin uttered a short humorless laugh. Truth slipped out of her unconsciously.

"She'll find it hard to bargain here. Even tears cost money in Clock Tower Town."

Fumiko paused in the middle of up righting a chair as her face cleared in complete surprise.

"You know this place?"

Grinding her teeth Lin realized she'd revealed herself. Grimly Lin forced herself to answer. She didn't entirely trust the spider, but she couldn't lie.

"Yes."

Fumiko's eyes turned shrewd and sharp as a glimmer of hope ignited in their bloody depths.

"Then you have an advantage."

At once the spider went back to cleaning in mincing meekness. Lin found herself watching closely, suddenly doubted that such a tiny woman could kill a soldier. But the iron in the spider's voice belied her diminutive stature.

"Be patient. Make yourself pretty and small. Your chance will come, Lin-san."

Here Fumiko flustered, glancing up nervously as if expecting her to throw something.

"I mean, Lin."

Lin snorted irritably.

"I will never be pretty and small."

Here the spider's voice quieted with the same fear that touched the talk of feeding her sisters.

"Then make yourself useful! Do not give Shurui cause to kill you. Although your milk will be best for your son she can find another wet nurse amongst our sisters. I do not want to see you die, but I do not know what I can do to help you."

Lin's insides went cold at that and Fumiko was back to fretting with her apron.

She said it like it was inevitable, like it was only a matter of time.

"Lin… Lin, your baby's hungry…"

Lin flinched, turning to stare back at Kiri as she spoke in a hush.

Again she'd forgotten the sick-faced human!

Kiri's face twisted with misery as she held Kokoro. The kit rooted against the front of the female's spider silk robes seeking a meal. Hurrying over to take her back Lin perched on the edge of the bed so she could put Kokoro to breast, tucking and tightening the kit in the front overlap of her yukata. Lin shrank gritting her teeth as Kiri folded up at her other side, pillowing her head on her knee. The human looked so pathetic she couldn't shake her off even though she stank of death and blood. Staring down at the white in the female's short black hair, Lin found only but suffering in her gaunt pale face. Nothing remained of the saucy brash female dressed in yellow and black stripes Lin had met in Kumomi. Whatever had survived the ordeal with the Forgotten was lost in the spider caverns.

All that was left was a husk; a hollow shell. A tiny wick of pity kindled around Lin's stone heart, because she knew all too well the agony of child loss. Grinding her teeth again and making her jaw ache, Lin swallowed the painful vice of sorrow as it gripped her throat. She buried the smell in anger instead, focusing on the hilt of Ume's dagger as it pressed against the hollow of her stomach.

"What is she?!"

Lin glanced back at Fumiko as the spider crept close staring askance at the human.

Her pale beautiful face was etched with horror and revulsion.

Lin barely restrained the urge to bite back in anger.

"Unlucky."

Fumiko crept forward and crouched by the edge of the bed, continuing to stare curiously. The spider's face cleared as she murmured to herself cryptically.

"Shimizu is right… She is hollow!"

Angrily she waved the spider away from Kiri; jostling Kokoro and making the kit complain.

"Leave her alone!"

Blinking Fumiko flitted backwards to hide behind a desk.

She bowed and bowed over and over making Lin want to hit her.

"I am sorry! It's just I've never seen anything like her."

Unfortunately there was nothing in her reach to throw.

So Lin threw words instead.

"Why does Shurui want this girl!? What possible use could she have for a human!?"

At once the spider was twisting and snarling her apron with a flock of trembling hands.

"Not knowing is Buddha…"

Lin bared her teeth, struggling to keep her temper.

"You said you wanted to help me! If that's true then tell me what you know!"

Fumiko flinched, looking at anything but them.

"Shimizu said it's because the human is… _hollow._ "

Again that word! Lin hated it. It made her insides bristle and scramble around.

What the spider said next was no better.

"That's why my sisters came after you and yours. Shurui wanted this human because she can carry Garuda. Through her Garuda could have been born again if the poison hadn't killed the lives she carried."

Lin rocked backwards as understanding hit her in a blinding flash. Suddenly she understood why Manami had taken up residence in Kiri's body. The ghost knew! She knew what was going to happen and she'd come back trying to stop it! She filled the gap inside Kiri so nothing else could get in. But then Shurui forced her out in exchange for something Manami couldn't refuse: the human's life.

That, however, explained nothing else.

Lin blinked rapidly, looking down as Kokoro released her breast. Her kit sighed a happy sound, at once a heavy weight against the wall of her stomach as she slept. All the same, seeing Kokoro well fed brought her no happiness. Lin felt Makoto absence the same way her missing arm ached with phantom blades of torment. Staring at her kit, Lin seethed with misery knowing she would never be able to hold them both.

"Why!? Why my son!?"

Lin choked through clenched teeth as she bowed her head over her daughter.

The silence was cutting.

But before she could shout at the spider to break its biting edge, Fumiko spoke.

"Shimizu said our sisters weren't supposed to bite the human. The bat told us to look for a pregnant woman. The bat didn't say anything about there being two pregnant women. We saw you and didn't realize the human was the one Shurui wanted. Then they bit the human and changed everything Bah Fuh foretold. But that filthy bat saw another way through the blood. That's why she wants your son to raise as her own."

Fumiko whispered the last as if she hated every word.

"A child's soul is a weak. It is can be consumed and replaced by another."

Lin was on her feet without realizing it.

Kiri scrambled aside only to slip and fall hard on the floor.

Lin didn't see her. She couldn't see anything but snow.

And there was blood on the snow filled her head.

With it came cold north winds carrying the scent of death.

And for a moment she thought she was screaming; screaming and screaming.

But she wasn't.

It was the shrill hollow shriek of the train's whistle.

It boomed and reverberated as it ricocheted off the tunnel walls.

Out into the dawn; up into Clock Tower Town.

All the way back to Aburaya.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Standing on the top stair of the case leading out onto the main floor he froze. Dawn was beginning to turn the sky outside a thin filtered gray. Across the unbroken expanse of board floor he could see the Bandai station. The fat yellow moon on its foot gleamed in refracted light. Strange spindly shadows oozed down from the open sliders overhead.

All the way through thick sleep he had heard the nightingale floor squeak.

Had it been Suzume? Perhaps Okesa?

If it was either of the Gods they would have announced themselves by now.

Holding perfectly still in the dark, he held his breath and listened.

Ringing silence filled his ears until it throbbed with his madly racing pulse.

Still. Premonition hummed in every drop of his blood.

Every hair on his neck was standing up in giddy prickles.

With one hand he anxiously touched the hafts of the fans he had slipped into his obi. In the other he gripped Hanoane's hilt tighter. There had been no time to don his armor and as the skin on his exposed back crawled with warning he missed the lacquered lames sorely. Haku gritted his teeth as he stepped into the air. Flitting soundlessly across the nightingale floor he landed on the toes of his bare feet at the edge of the main floor. But his wind traveled on, slipping across the open expanse until the sudden gust of wind disturbed the purple drapes above the Bandai station.

A shadow uncurled in the rafters behind them.

Haku's insides lurched straight up into the air carrying him from the ground on a punch of wind that send his heart slamming into his mouth constricting with such stunning terror as the black unfolded into a terrifying thicket of spindly black arms. The massive thing went skitter-scrambling up one of the columns only to perch on the edge of the balcony above scanning the room below with the ruby coals of burning bright eyes. Its hurried passing sent hideously trundling shadows right for him as if they had always known where he was hiding. He slammed backwards against the wall as he sought to flee the crawling silhouette. White bright bloomed in his eyes as his wild mistrals dragged him up off the ground. Shrieking squalls ripped through the atrium as he shouted the word at the top of his lungs.

" _SPIDER!"_

Before he could react further, Haku crushed to the ground under the indiscriminately compelling command of a chorus of brass bells. An explosion of pain went zinging out to every corner of his body as he landed hard. The wind went right out of his lungs leaving him stunned as Okesa's lithe body whipped flashes of shining black through the dark on the balcony overhead, ensnaring the startled monster with Shurui's iron bell only to hurl it down. The impact bounced him off the floor as the spider smashed onto the boards before.

As he stared at it a predatorial switch snapped in his head.

Propelled from the ground on a screaming burst of wind Hanoane sang from her scabbard.

She cut the air with her keening edge, gleaming like a vicious moon as it arched high.

All the while a shrill female voice screeched in the dark.

" _It's me! It's me! It's me!"_

Haku, however, did not hear.

All he could hear was the bloodlust screaming in his ears!

 _Dead! Dead! He wanted the spider dead!_

The sharp blade sliced true, dividing flesh with a gruesomely silky snick!

The impact jarred up his arm making the once broken bones in his wrist creak and pop!

But there was no blood! No shrieking thrashing death throes!

Stunned, Haku stared in numb astonishment as the dark mass he had cleaved in two suddenly gathered back together around his blade. Gathering up over him as if swelling in the gloom, it shoved him back with such force he caught air. Haku landed smoothly only to skid several feet more. But he rebounded with drawn bow and sighted and ready to strike at the monster only to have it genuflect in contrition as it expressed regret in a soft dry voice he had nearly forgotten.

" _Apologies, Kohaku-sama!"_

Fading away into nothing at the floor, the sooty form of the slip thin ghost loomed over him as if floating. Feeling as if he was shrinking in size somehow, Haku gaped in the dark at the gleaming mask that was Tomoe's alabaster face. The porcelain moved like living skin, drawing into deeply cast frown as the purple triangles above his endless jet black eyes drew together like brows.

Then blue foxfire that erupted overhead in a blinding flash.

Haku jerked away in surprise as Suzume appeared beside him as if in solidarity.

In the light Haku finally saw the God woman at the ghost's feet.

Barely more than a girl, the kami wore a disheveled black, yellow, red striped kimono.

Gone was the monster whom had crawled all through his head in skittering horror.

All that was left was Kuromi.

"It's me!" She wheezed again tremulously.

Still trying to catch her breath the spider shrank under her many arms. _Far too many arms!_ More and more unfurled over her head until Haku was sighting his arrow again in a panic. Casting an unconcerned glance at the spider, Suzume turned to scowl at him darkly.

"Lower your weapon, dragon!"

Haku let the fox push down the tip of his arrow until it pointed at the floor.

Still he stared at Kuromi seeing a beetle black monster.

He was shaking with outrage as a violent wind blew out of him.

Haku leaned away choking on words as if each one caused him physical pain.

"What is _she_ doing here!?"

The fox barked at him with merciless ire.

"How should I know, dragon!"

Kuromi flinched as they snapped at each other.

Quaking from head to toe she turned and bowed to him as if he was her master.

Haku came up short. He could not remember the last time someone bowed to him thus.

"I went ahead, Kohaku-san," the spider answered shortly in a small quavering voice.

Even though his strained words were barely whispered Haku might as well have been shouting.

"Who gave you permission to accompany us!?"

Kuromi continued to avoid his gaze, shifting to sit primly on her heels.

"You did. Or have you forgotten our bargain?"

No. He had not forgotten their bargain.

Nor had he forgotten how she had forced him to save her life.

He had not been able to let her die then.

He certainly could not kill her now.

Still staring at her with blistering rage Haku set another blast of wind loose on the open atrium. With it he expressed an unfettered snarl of fury and grudgingly released the tension on his arrow. He turned away only to have Okesa shove him round another full revolution. She sprinted across the floor on all fours only to launch herself at the ghost.

" _TOMMIE!"_ The cat screeched at the top of her lungs.

Already the ghost was bending to sweep Okesa up in his arms. But it was not the tender reunion Haku might have expected. The cat body checked him, sending shadows spilling across the floor. In silence Tomoe weathered the cat's hissing spitting fury as she shredded his body with her claws before clubbing him in the face with her balled fist.

"Aye'm so mad a' yehs, yeh stupid, _STUPID_ ghostie! Y'left me! _Y'left me all 'lone!_ "

But even the raging cat fell still hunkering over him as a train whistle screamed distantly.

Haku startled at the sound so violently he jolted off the floor.

Kuromi did not so much as flinch.

Not even as the hollowing moaning whistle screeched again.

Listening carefully she nodded vaguely as if pleased.

"Don't worry. The spiders are stuck."

The fox bristled visibly at the sound of her voice, baring his sharp teeth as he bent closer to the spider. The pale silk filaments of his ragged hair spilled over his shoulders making his face terrifying in the sudden rage of the boiling blue lights overhead. Haku found himself leaning away as the razor's edge of Suzume's gold eyes grew almost unbearably intense. He could cut flesh with a look like that.

"Do not worry!? _Do not worry!?_ " The fox fumed, " _Explain yourself, spider!_ "

Suzume spat the word with the same venomous hate Haku felt for the creature.

Clasping her shaking hands tightly, Kuromi cringed only to bow with respect.

Her thin voice quavered as she answered quickly.

"The train is completely out of coal and food. There's no coal in the underground station. Shurui is trapped in Clock Tower Town."

Kuromi's blood red eyes remained fixed on her shaking white-knuckles.

"The kami in town can't stop talking about the smoke. Smoke means coal. If she asks they'll tell her about Yubaba's gold. Eventually Shurui will come looking for both but she won't be expecting you."

Haku glared at Kuromi grinding his teeth.

Gods could not lie. But that did not mean they always told the truth.

"How do you know about Yubaba!?"

Unscathed by the beating Okesa had given him, Tomoe sat up carrying the bristling cat.

The ghost released her as she scrambled down and shoved him away.

Stalking across the room Okesa sat in a huff showing him her back.

Looking after her with mournful endless jet black eyes, Tomoe awkwardly scratched his head.

It was an entirely human gesture, reminding Haku the ghost had been human once.

Turning in a fading whisper of shadows, Tomoe gestured at Kuromi.

" _I told this one all she knows, Kohaku-sama."_

Here the ghost indicated the spider, referring to her indirectly in strange archaic turns of speech.

" _I have traveled with the spiders since they first departed from the cavern beneath Uguisudani Station. This one was waiting in the underground station when I slipped away. This one told me you and the others could be found here in the bath house. I came immediately."_

Tomoe glided backwards as Suzume advanced beneath a raging cloud of blue foxflames.

"Why did you not bring Hayashimi with you!?"

The ghost held up his hands placating.

" _She would not come, Suzume-dono. She carries your daughter but the spider keeps your son. She refused to leave them and bade me find you in her stead."_

Haku's insides went cold with this news. Cold with terror. Cold with elation.

Lin was alive and stubborn as ever. He prayed that her flinty strength would endure.

Suzume was not done with his interrogation of the specter.

Bending with the weight of a different emotion, he choked on his next words.

"And my wife!?"

Kuromi blinked as her altogether too pretty face constricted with sudden understanding.

"The weasel woman's your _wife_?"

Haku's insides sank with eroding dismay. Oh, stupid, stupid girl! She should not have spoken of Hayashimi thus. As Haku feared the fox wheeled on his heel so swiftly his burned garments snapped like thunder. Overhead the godlights erupted into gnashing boiling blue explosions that pelted them with singing embers as the God turned his unbridled fury on the spider. As he did Suzume made to strike her across the face with the flat blade of his burned charcoal hand.

" _Her name is Hayashimi!"_

Scrambling to forsake his bow for bells, Haku yanked free one of the fans tucked into his waistband. With a wind beneath his toes Haku darted forward and caught the God's hand with the compelling flash of the edge of the fan before Suzume could strike Kuromi. Dancing the fox around in a wide circle, Haku found himself wondering just what he was doing! Seconds prior he had been overwhelmed with the need to kill her. Now he found himself compelled to protect this spider hiding in the guise of a little girl. Spinning the rage blinded fox aside with a bright chime of bell song, Haku gave Kuromi enough time to flee behind Sen.

Her hair and eyes had gone white as ash once more.

Gone was the glimpse of the human girl she had once been.

Bleached of color like the fox, she was made once more of unyielding iron.

Suzume spun to give the spider chase only to smash to stillness against her hard gaze.

She did not even speak. Sen did not need too.

His foxfires dwindled in contrition as the God stumbled back to a rough seat on his heels.

Sen turned to Kuromi with the same crushing stare.

The spider folded beneath its weight, pressing her head and hands to the floor.

Sen's quiet voice made the very boards beneath his feet quake.

"Come with me, Kuromi."

* * *

 **HAKU**

The interior of Aburaya's kitchen was paneled in aluminum.

Yubaba had spent a small fortune to cart in the human material.

But after several coal fires broke out causing mounting repair bills she had bent to the expense.

Flames reflected off the shining metal backsplash as Haku stoked the glowing coals in the cast-iron stoves with an angry wind. Clacking about on the tiles in a borrowed pair of geta, he went in search of usable china. The humming exhaust fan set high in the glass windowed wall above the sink at his back spun giddily, casting strange shadows across the range. A round cauldron of rice was steaming away to his right beneath a heavy flat wood lid that hissed from time to time. The soup from their evening repast was warming in a neighboring squat copper kettle. The jar of pickled plums rested on the counter waiting to become garnish. And there was pot of hot water for the last of the tiny packet of matcha. But he had no more fish to grill, nor had he anything to cook. The dregs of his extravagant spending last evening would feed them but another meal and no more.

And although he had enough gold to feed all of Clock Tower Town Haku found no peace.

In his mind's eye all he could see was the thicket of spiders that lay in the tunnels beneath!

How he might reclaim Hayashimi and Ikiri from that forest of hands and teeth he did not know!

The horrible screech of a train whistle echoed through his head once more.

Without realizing what he was doing Haku began cleaning though it was an absolute waste of energy. Tying a narrow strip of Onsen's indigo cloth around his head to keep his wild hair at bay, he gathered up the pots and pans scattered at random, clearing the counters until he found a singed broom in the corner. He had always enjoyed sweeping. It appealed to the wind within him. Besides, he was happy to endure any work that might excuse him from sharing space with the spider. Soon enough he would have spiders aplenty! Dust filtered down from above as he swept. Frowning overhead he listened as the cat skulked in the lofted pantry. He had no idea what she sought up there save more dust. And he called up to her mildly as the cat shook down more debris continuing to undo his work.

"There is nothing to eat or drink up there, Okesa."

"Won't know till aye look, neh! Aye got's ah powerful need t'git _drunk_!"

She muttered sullenly beneath her shredded breath.

It was barely more than sunrise and Haku paused with a deepening frown.

But slowly he understood.

"Are you so angry with him, then?"

By him Haku meant Tomoe. And the cat knew exactly what he meant.

He cringed only to wilt as she stomped the floor above and showered him with dust.

Furious shredding sounds filtered down from above.

"Aye's carried 'is sorry soundbox 'round fer _centuries!_ An t' moment 'e gits ah body an' legs he _runs oft!_ Maybe 'e likes ol' sourpuss better 'an me, neh?! 'E certain ran off after _'er_ , neh!?"

Haku stirred the grime as his feet with an irritable breeze as he listened to her fume senselessly. It made him more than angry that she would speak of Hayashimi so unkindly. Still, for the sake of the cat's wounded heart he tried to be patient.

"Okesa, you know that is not true."

She hissed and threw a rotted bale of tea down from above.

It smashed into powder on the tiles at his feet as he narrowly ducked from its path.

"Wot d'yeh know 'bout anythin', neh! 'E left me! _'E left me in tha' den o' spiders t'die!_ "

Still spitting and growling, the cat fled the kitchen. Clinging to the haft of the broom as if it was the only sure thing in the world Haku listened to her go then sank to a seat on the edge of a low stool. Closing his eyes on the chaos around him, he tried to still the cross winds whipping around his ankles stirring up tiny dust devils in the thick soot. After a long moment Haku let lose the breath he was holding and the breeze dissipated. But as he stood Haku blinked, coming to the foot of the coal stoves to stoop and pick up a piece of coal. It was sitting on the floor in front of the grate. But there was no way it could have fallen out. Here he paused only to have his heart thrilled into his throat as intuition surged in his veins.

Could it be possible?

Haku hooked the front of the oven open and made a ramp out of a baking sheet doing his best to recreate the sloping shelf in Kamaji's boiler room. Hurrying to hide behind one of the work tables he held his breath and waited. He need not wait long. Haku clapped a hand over his mouth against a gasp as another lump of coal leapt out of the bucket. It lifted off the ground on two tiny wisps of leg, teetering haphazardly across the floor. Haku watched in fascination it trundled up his makeshift ramp. Suddenly hoisted high, the tiny soot sprite beneath glanced back and forth with cautiously expressive eyes. Then it hurled it burden into the fire and went zipping back into the coal bucket. Stunned, Haku stood slowly before going to the counter and fishing a pickled plum from the jar. Coming over to crouch by the coal bucket he held the wrinkled red fruit just over the edge.

"Do not be afraid, little one. Perhaps you remember me?"

He murmured in a gentle voice as he waited patiently only to be rewarded.

Tiny, tiny hands little more than smudges of soot reached up from within.

It gingerly accepting his offering and an equally tiny chirp echoed up from the bottom.

Then the pickled plum jerked out of sight.

Smiling with a melting heart, Haku tried not to laugh.

"Thank you for your good service."

Flying to his feel with a merry wind winding through his heart, Haku clacked on his geta across the kitchen and took down the ramp. But as he straightened to stir the soup Haku realized he was not alone. At once every hair on the back of his neck was standing on end as a chill went through his bones. Placing a hand on one of the chopping knives on the block beside him he carefully lifted his eyes across the ceiling, following the rafters to the darkest corners until the sharpening point of premonition in his heart told him he had found what he sought.

He could not see her. But he knew the spider was there.

Bristling in fury at her intrusion, Haku let the wind of his anger rush through the kitchen. Snatching a chipped bowl from the side board he ripped the lid off the rice pot. Ladling out a heaping scoop not caring if it was done or not, he kicked off his geta and stalked up the steps to the loft. Slamming the bowl down on the thick shadows of the top step he spun midair. His bare feet did not so much as touch the steps as he sprinted back down into the bright sunlight. Haku's insides scrambled making him stand bolt upright as the shadows shifted. A pale hand slipped from behind a bale to hook the bowl into shadows.

"There!" He barked as ungraciously as the fox, "Take your rice and get out!"

She did not. Her soft voice filtered down from above sounding small and unsure.

The very sound of it set his blood boiling.

"Why did you stop the fox from hitting me?"

Haku ground his teeth and went back to sweeping trying to ignore her.

"I told you to go away!"

Still, she remained up in the loft.

And Kuromi repeated herself quietly, making his skin crawl.

"You didn't answer me. Why'd you stop the fox from hitting me if you hate me so much?"

"I do not hate you!" Haku snapped back furiously just wanting her to go away.

She snorted loudly.

"Could've fooled me."

Wringing the haft of his broom Haku resisted the urge to chase her with it.

As the uncomfortable silence grew broodingly thick again Kuromi spoke.

Her words were barely a whisper they were so soaked through with sorrow.

"If I was human? Would you still hate me?"

Stunned by her question, Haku sucked in a sharp breath and held it. It obliterated all the irate emotions tumbling around in his too small chest. Haku sighed gustily as he was forced to release the breath. All the wind seemed to go out of him bringing the room to stillness as he sank to a seat on the edge of the rickety stool he had salvaged. Perched there in utter confusion, Haku struggled to understand what he was feeling. Finally he forced himself to speak.

"I do not _hate_ you. But you are a spider and I _abhor_ spiders!"

He could hear her shifting uncomfortably.

"Then why did you stop the fox?"

Again with that stupid, _stupid_ question! Her persistence stirred all the fury in his heart! Throwing down his broom Haku seized Karasu's hat from the hidden folds of his tatter cloak. This he hurled up the stairs. It tumbled up over the top lip propelled by a punch of his enraged wind. And he shouted in its wake.

"Can you smell the blood on that, _spider!_ "

Haku spat the word most ungraciously.

"It belonged to a crow who called me brother in spite of the aberration I am in the eyes of the Gods! He was a light in the dark and your sisters _killed_ him! _"_

Haku could not lie; Kuromi had provoked him thoroughly. Unbidden, angry truth spilled from his lips.

"You ask why I stopped the fox? It is because I cannot abide by cruelty! I have suffered much in my life and I will not suffer to see it done to another!"

But as Haku spoke of the fox he also spoke of himself.

As a God he had been a cold and cruel. As a human at times he fared no better.

The terrible taste of Jouma's blood was in his mouth as it was on his hands.

So too was the blood of so many spiders.

The smell remained in spite of Kubi's smoke.

"Our world is small and yet it is teeming with violence! Desperation forces the Gods to become _monsters_ as we scramble to survive! It does not need to be so! And I will do _anything_ I must to spare us such a fate!"

In spite of his pronouncements Haku's word turned bitter as he knew himself to be a pretender.

Even now he wished to strike the spider just to satisfy the malice in his heart.

He choked on self-loathing as he struggled not to become the very thing he hated most.

"I know you don't like spiders, but I think you would've liked my little sister."

He flinched, startled from his brooding as the spider spoke softly.

"Her name is Ritsuko, but she calls herself Ritzy. I'd never met a God like her. She was so…. _different!_ It took me a while to figure out that's because she was so much stronger than the rest of us."

Haku clearly heard the affection in her voice as she described her sister.

Unnerved by the unexpected sentiment, he shied from it uncomfortably.

"She ran away from the Shitamachi brothels when a dog pulled off one of her arms. Back then there was nowhere else to go but up. No spider had ever gone up and stayed. Somehow she figured out a way because she'd been living up there for a while when I finally found her."

Here the spider's voice colored strongly with awe.

"When I was with her the buzzing lights didn't hurt so bad and the air didn't stink so much. And the food was so good! Doughnuts! Have you ever had a doughnut? She took me on the rollercoaster in Ueno Park! She taught me how to blend in with the other human school girls with their pretty uniforms and shiny shoes. I've always wanted to wear shoes! She showed me what it was like to live like a human instead of a monster!"

Haku found himself obligated to listen as she rushed forward into her tale.

"I was born in the spider cavern so all I've ever known is _killing!_ I was raised on blood and fighting so I didn't realize there was something else until I met Ritzy. I don't even know why we're supposed to hate Shitamachi! We're all so afraid of _mother_ we just do what she says!"

Mother. Kuromi spat the word with all the venomous rancor he used when naming her spider.

"I'm not telling you this because I want you to be sad for me. I'm telling you this because I want you to know Ritzy wasn't like the rest of us. She wasn't afraid of Shurui. Ritzy knew Gods in Shitamachi who are good. She knew what we did to your friends was wrong so she convinced me to get the weasel woman out of the caverns. We stole her away. We were going to bring her back."

Haku was on his feet without realizing he had stood.

This spider, this horrible monster he once tried to kill, had tried to save Lin.

He did not want to believe her because what she said changed everything.

But Gods could not lie and his heart rang with the truth of her words.

Although what she said next stunned him back to a seat.

"Ritzy was going to stand up to Shurui! She was going to tell all our sisters that Shurui was wrong! And Shurui _killed_ her right in front of me! She cut off her head and all her _blood_ …! I can smell the blood! It… it… got on my _face_ and I… _I can still smell it!_ "

Gritting his teeth Haku shied from Kuromi's misery over the loss of her sibling.

And he did not want to feel sympathy for this creature!

Haku wanted Kuromi to be silent! He wanted to shout at her to stop!

But he could not speak for the painful vice gripping his throat.

It bloomed in a terrible burned that spread to his eyes, robbing him of sight.

He was compelled to pity because the despair in her voice was far, far too familiar!

"If I'm human I can get away from all of this… If I'm human I can eat hotdogs and milkshakes… I can get a job and live in an apartment! I can go to school in the sunlight! All I want is to be boring and _normal!_ I don't want to be a _monster_ anymore!"

Cringing there he ground his teeth as the sound of her soft sobbing.

It filtered down from above inspiring in him the terrible urge to shout most unkind things.

Because monsters did not cry.

Monsters did not have little sisters.

Monster did not have names.

Haku forced every word between his clenched teeth in a choked hush.

"You are not a monster, Kuromi."

Much to his relief she silenced. But as he stood shaking on the tiles Haku was left wondering if his pronouncement was the truth or a lie. Had he proven himself to be a pretender again? Had he lied simply to shut her up for his own sake? His insides twisted with dismay as he found he did not know, nor was he given the chance to consider her further as the silence continued to thicken. Coming back to peer up the stairs he knew that she was gone. Haku hesitated. Then he left a bowl of soup and a cup of tea in the shadows of the top step as he reclaimed Karasu's hat. Heavily laden with trays of food he fled the kitchen for the labyrinth of Aburaya's halls.

As he went he heard the difficult words he shared with the fox the evening prior.

If Suzume could endure his presence so too he must endure the spider's.

Otherwise Haku would indeed make himself a liar.


	32. Chapter 32

**SEN**

Sen sat on her heels hunkered over a low table on the shabby tatami.

It was almost the exact same spot she had slept as a child.

Behind her the dirty patched fusuma were open to the brightening sky.

The rising sun dumped through to coat her back in a sheet of warmth she didn't feel.

It broke from time to time as Suzume stalked by.

The fox was pacing the length of the porch beyond the sliders. His pounding steps made the floor beneath her bounce as he passed at her back. She let him air his head. He'd come if and when he wanted to talk. Before then any attempt to engage him would just result in getting your head bitten off. Instead of fretting over him Sen put herself to something useful. She studied the hastily sketched map with the hard edge of her eyes only to blink as her intense gaze caused another scorch spot. The page was dotted with them.

Wet blobs of ink soaked through the back of the old work order sheet. Again she swept her eyes across the narrow bar of Clock Tower Town. Chewing the end of Suzume's paintbrush, she bent to paint another the fat black line. This represented the train tunnel. She drew the brush from the station, across the sea of grass, past the restaurant district, in a long smooth stroke until she lifted it leaving another fat blob where it emerged to the west of the bath house. She scowled at the wet blot until it began steaming.

"Will they come by the tunnel or by boat?"

She asked the thin air knowing it would answer.

" _Boat."_

Tomoe whispered from the darkest corner of the room. Hiding from the bright sun, the ghosts sat like a tall shadow pressed behind one of the opaque sliding panels that opened out to the rest of the servants' quarters.

" _The spiders will soon discover a great boulder blocks the mouth of the tunnel. It will not move nor will it let any pass, living or dead."_

Sen jerked her head up in surprise because she knew that rock.

She snorted in wicked amusement, imaging Shurui uselessly ringing her bells at Seki-no-taro.

Through the open veranda doors distantly she could hear a ringing of a different kind.

Rattling clashes filtered up from below as if some great battle was going on in the kitchen.

But it was just Haku. To say he was in a bad mood was putting it lightly.

As soon as she brought Kuromi into the Servants' Quarter he'd stormed off wearing a black cloud to match Suzume's. The cat had gone with him. Cinna was still giving poor Tomoe the cold shoulder. Well Kohaku and the cat could go have their hissy fit together. At least he was making himself useful at the same time by cooking breakfast. Sen had no idea where the spider had gone. She didn't really care. As her stomach gave a cavernous gurgle she wilted because she was _starving!_ She'd only eaten a bowl of soup last night and most of that had evaporated.

But still, Kohaku had managed to surprise her again. The feral intensity that raged in his incandescent green eyes when he looked at Kuromi set Sen's insides scrambling. She'd seen that look in his eyes a couple of times when he was still a God. It'd been in his eyes the time he tried to eat Amano. It reminded her far too much of the look Suzume had turned upon him in the kitchen after they'd gotten back from the caverns. Gods became their emotions. Their passions consumed them, transforming them into something else entirely. In a way that disposition had followed Kohaku into his mortal form. She couldn't imagine what that was like.

Was it fair to hold him accountable for his temper when everything he was feeling was so new?

You'd think a 2,000 year old being could keep it together.

But who was she to judge, especially given what a whiney little brat Chihiro had been.

All the same, Sen hadn't realized just how much Kohaku _hated_ spiders. It wasn't just hate either; it was fear. She'd heard true terror in his voice earlier when he'd shouted. He wasn't afraid of Gaki or Forgotten; so why would he be afraid of spiders? Just what had happened to him in the caverns? Her chest squeezed as gruesome guesses flitted through her head like a flock of sooty moths. And she found herself gritting her teeth as she remembered the terrible bites marks scattered all across his body. Blinking rapidly Sen realized she was staring a hole in the map. Swatting the smoldering spot, she got back to the grim business of planning an ambush. She painted a meandering set of stairs that took a long hard left then another hard right. Here she traced the wide bridge that connected Aburaya to the mainland.

"The spiders will have to come through the restaurant district and across the bridge."

She was back to chewing the end of the brush, talking to herself absently.

"We'll need to wait until they come inside. There's too many ways for them to get away while they're still on that side of the bridge."

Sen sketched a big square that represented the bath house. She drew her lips into a thin line as her burning gaze traced back to Clock Tower Town. Here she blinked as Kohaku deftly hooked a distant sliding door with his toes, gliding through bringing food. And she stared as if seeing him for the first time. Silent and poised he carried the impossibly big trays perfectly balanced on his outstretched hands the way one of those cantilever toys made heavy things could hang mid-air like magic. A long strip of indigo cloth bound back his inky blue-black hair as another trussed up his sleeves. This left his long lean arms bare in the bright sunlight. His skin was the color of snow, and his white feet flashed at the hem of his wrinkled indigo yukata as he gracefully traversed the lumpy tatami.

She stared at his pretty, pretty feet. How could feet be so pretty!?

As he knelt by their table to deposit his tray with a grace that left her gawking, Sen remembered herself and scrambled to move the papers. Now she was staring at the food. The tangy smell of miso curled up from the cloudy broth steaming in the chipped black bowls. And her mouth waters in anticipation of the umeboshi. The tiny wrinkled red pickles lounged in the center of fluffy white bowls of rice. She wilted as her stomach gave a ferocious growl. His jade eyes gleamed like fish-scales in the sun, making her jump. He glanced at her middle with a furtive smile he hid by bowing his head. But she saw it all the same. Seeing that small smile flit across his lips made her chest squeeze painfully. Shy and sweet; no God smiled like that.

" _Kohaku-san? Have you seen Okesa?"_

Sen looked up as the ghost skirted the edge of the room only to bow twice. Automatically Kohaku bowed in return with a solemn frown.

"Apologies, Tomoe-san. Last I saw her she was in the kitchen below."

Here he hesitated, nervously smoothing his hair even though none was in his face.

"I must warn you. She left in an ill mood."

The ghost snorted then sighed gustily. Sen blinked because it was a completely human thing to do. Tomoe seemed to shrink as his living mask face carved with deep lines.

" _Thank you for your concern, Kohaku-san. I am accustomed to Okesa's moods."_

Again they bowed to each other in silent sympathy. Then the ghost glided away pressed close to the room's edge, hiding from the thin beams of sunlight filtering through cracks in the drawn sliders. The moment Tomoe vanished the veranda sliders parted so fast they violently smashed into the adjacent walls. Sen blinked rapidly, cringing behind an up thrown hand as the blinding sun spilled in front the east. Suzume stalked inside only to seat himself at the head of the table. Without a word of thanks, the fox ignored the soup and rice Kohaku placed in front of him and snatched up her roughly sketched map. As he scowled at it Kohaku placed her breakfast in front of her in demure elegant motions. At a loss, Sen looked back and forth between them gritting her teeth, holding her breath, and sitting on pins and needles.

But the table didn't burst into flames.

Wind didn't rip apart the room.

Neither of them picked a fight.

Then Suzume pointed at the map imperiously.

"Child! You will explain!"

Startled, it took her a second to recover.

"This is the Clock Tower and the stairs leading to the subterranean station. This is Clock Tower Town. This is the sea of grass. It becomes a wide river at night. This is the restaurant district, the ruins we passed earlier. This is the bridge and the mouth of the train tunnel. And this is Aburaya."

She tapped the page the back of her brush, naming off locations.

"This way is blocked."

Sen tapped the mouth of the tunnel where Seki no Taro had come to rest.

"That means they'll need to come by boat."

As she pointed at the sea of grass the fox's face twisted with skepticism.

"And how precisely do you intend to entice them to come?"

"We need do nothing, Suzume-san."

Sen and the fox looked at Kohaku in unison; she and surprise and the God in anger. Motivated similarly, they opened their mouths to speak at the same time too. But they were left gaping as Kohaku dropped a heavy gold ingot onto the table between them. It landed with such a heavy _thud_ the breakfast china clinked!

"Tales of gold and coal will court the spiders to Aburaya."

The fox snatched it up, hefting it in his hands before biting it savagely. Liking whatever he tasted, the God frowned in surprise as if he had expected it to be painted lead.

"Dragon!" Suzume began in amazement, "Where did you get this!?"

Kohaku pointed overhead.

"From Yubaba's vault."

Sen's eyes locked on the pad of his index finger. It was black as if stained by ink. Something about it turned her insides cold and set the bell in her heart humming ominously.

"What's that on your finger?"

He closed his hand into a fist that he put beneath the table. And the inscrutable dragon emerged only to wipe his face into a chilly mask.

"Coal soot from the kitchen fires," he explained without looking.

She blinked, shocked as she realized he was lying. Why was he lying!? Sen was about to call him out until Kohaku put a soup bowl in her hands.

"Eat before it gets cold."

Her hands were full and that was the only reason she couldn't grab his. Jerk.

"O-Inari-sama's blessings," the fox muttered before putting rice in his mouth.

She sipped lightly even as her stomach howled, waiting until they bother were eating. That way they couldn't immediately argue with what she said next.

"We can't just wait for the spiders to show up. We need to know what's going on in town with the spiders. We can't be surprised when they finally show up. I want to know how many there are. I want to know what state they're in. Are they hungry? Are they arguing with each other?"

Are Kiri and Lin with them?

She didn't say that last bit out loud.

She didn't need to. They were all thinking it.

Hiding his full mouth behind a hand, Kohaku broke in hurriedly.

"We must be patient, dear one. Anything done in haste may jeopardize our advantage."

He was right, but at the same time she was not very good at being patient!

Sen squirmed, chewing savagely on the side of her thumb.

She glared at him as he took her fingers from her mouth frowning mildly.

"You make yourself bleed, dear one."

Ignoring him, she chose an unbloodied finger and started chewing.

Finally swallowing the enormous mouthful of rice Suzume interjected himself hotly.

"After dark, then what?"

Sen pointed towards the stairs leading up.

"We can use the paper to modify the bath house's inner atrium so looks like the stairs go places they don't. We can make trap doors down to the big furnace. Once they come in well slam the doors and then _boom!_ "

Sen slammed her fist on the table making it jump. Thin plumes of smoke blew between her clenched teeth as she stared at the map She made the map remembering how Shurui had ambushed Onsen. That bitch of a spider had no idea what was about to hit her! Kohaku had gone pale as his flashing green eyes followed the curling twists of black to the ceiling. Here he produced a slim stack of paper which he placed with slow care beside the ingot of gold. His soft voice was full of quiet contrition that counseled restraint.

"We have little paper left, dear one. Much was spent to make Aburaya whole."

Sen stared in astonishment as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach.

She counted the pages over and over but the result remained the same.

There were only ten left.

Shaking herself, Sen threw off the momentary pall because ten was actually a lot.

"I can write really, really small."

Here the fox stabbed his chopsticks at the blue sky outside talking to them like they were idiots.

"The going's on in town still trouble me. Dragon, could you not just watch from above?"

Sen's insides lifted. At once she circled back around to her earlier talk of Clock Tower Town.

"How many can you carry?"

As she wheeled on Kohaku she found him paler than pale. Wind blew out of him in a great gust snatching the map from the table. He was staring through her into something else entirely; something terrible, judging from the twisted look of horror washing across his face. And he choked every word through clenched teeth.

"I will not carry you into a den of _spiders!_ "

As he spat the word in a hiss she heard it ring with all his terror and loathing. Stunned, Sen realized she stepped on something painful and private he'd suffered. Her eyes grazed across one of the scars peeking from the collar of his yukata. But as she took a breath to tell him it was okay and that he didn't have to, he snapped. Sen recoiled as he shoved the table aside spilling soup and tea as he sprang with a furious shout.

" _I will not!"_

Then he ran. Flew was more like it. He was across the room in a single stride. Wind flooded after him as he vaulted over the banister of the balcony and dropped out of sight. Sen scrambled upright and ran after him. Knocking against the banister she stared down into the water. Nothing. Throwing her eyes overhead and shielding them from the sun she caught a glimpse of a fleeting shadow. Again her heart plunged into the pit of her stomach as it blotted out the sun momentarily before disappearing over the ragged tile lip of the distant roof. She was left cold even as the light flooded back over her.

"Go after him, child."

Sen jolted as she found Suzume at her side.

The fox's gold eyes were fixed on the spot Kohaku had disappeared.

She didn't need his permission, although she was surprised by his concern.

Turning, she sprinted across the beaten tatami. Her feet knew the way up the narrow steep flights of steps leading up to the main bath wing. Left, right, up more flights of stairs; by the time she reached the top floor her legs were burning. She was completely out of breath by the time she reached the shattered top floor. All the beads of sweat on her body turned cold as the stink of the Forgotten still lingered. Rearranging her sweat-soaked yukata, Sen slipped her hand into her waistband. With her fingertips resting on the geihobako she picked her way through the blackened rubble.

She tried not to look too hard.

Dwelling on what was done didn't help.

Following the eerie tug of the humming bell in her heart Sen found even more stairs. Climbing over a shattered desk she picked her way up into the semi-circle gable of the roof. More stairs; Sen had to sit at the base of the spiral that climbed the circumference of the tower. The spire that crowned the top of the bath house echoed overhead brimming with shadows. Panting and gasping as if the altitude had thinned the air, she mopped at her face. Her knees snapped and popped and her thighs shook as she forced herself upright. Bracing her hand on the concrete wall she climbed higher and higher, scooting sideways on the narrow ledges where the stairs had broken away.

Until, finally, she had reached the very top of the bath house.

Popping the door she flinched as a fierce whistling wind invaded.

It rudely shoved the metal hatch into her body threatening to push her back inside.

But the feral gale didn't belong to Kohaku.

Pressed against the corroded rust pocket shell of the spire Sen shuffled sideways onto the observation desk blinking as the sun reflecting off the broken green roof tiles momentarily blinded her. More wind ripped at her hair and clothes, watering her eyes and making her ears ache. Inching around the curve of the platform she craned her neck to see what she knew in her throbbing singing heart what was already there. Hugging the folded umbrella to his chest Kohaku sat with his back braced against the spire. His inky blue-black hair was a flag in its invisible fingers, flying down into his wide green eyes as he stared out at the vast endless mirror of shimmering aquamarine water. But his face was a blank mask even as the sun played incandescent ripples across the rippling surface.

The Sea of Dreams: that's what the inland ocean was called.

Unfortunately talking wouldn't do any good up here. She couldn't hear a thing over the whistling whipping wind. But already she knew how hard all of was for him. Nothing she could say would change that. So she didn't try to speak. Kohaku glanced at her as Sen struggled to tuck and pin her yukata in place before the wind could rip it open. It had already disarranged his making it billow and gape at his neck. Against the hard chiseled muscles of his perfect alabaster skin the spider bites were ugly angry red welts that looked wet and new in the direct sun. Her insides constricted with cold and she gritted her teeth as she counted them. Somehow she'd forgotten how many there were. As he glanced at her again Sen threw her eyes out over the inland sea embarrassed she'd been staring. But the relentless wind eroded her shame as it buffeted and surged through her hair, parting it over and over until it was twisted and full of tangles.

Instead of looking at the water Sen stared at the sky instead.

There wasn't so much as a cloud in sight.

The blue dome of forever yawned open over her head.

It was easy to empty herself out into the swallowing void.

As she sat there listening to the rushing swishing wind a strange calming peace found her.

No wonder he wanted to come up here.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there; long enough for the tension between them to drain away into the singing silence. Eventually Kohaku found her hand with his. Pulling her upright, he tightened her arm around her waist and lifted the umbrella over their heads. Threading her arms around his neck she barely restrained a gasp as they snatched into the sky. Her stomach surged up into her throat as dizzy spinning weightlessness stole the air from her lungs. She didn't close her eyes, desperate to see as he launched them off the flaking gold lightening rod at the top of the spire.

Glistening like a wet green scales, Aburaya's roof undulated beneath them as they drifted in a lazy spiral over the back edge of the gable. Down they floated like a bit of dandelion fluff; down to the very balcony he had disappeared from earlier. And as they touched down on the wide bare boards their knees folded as the weight of the world seemed to crash down on them. Lying in a heap on the warm sun-soaked boards Kohaku let his umbrella roll off into the interior. The fox was gone. The adjacent sliding doors were drawn. They had the room to themselves. Sen had come to rest with her head pillowed on his shoulder as he'd fallen asleep last night. She could feel his heart hammering away beneath her palm. And again he was staring off into nothing until finally words came.

"Apologies. I reacted poorly earlier. It is just…"

More words welled to his lips like the tears that spilled from the corners of his burn ringed eyes.

"How many can you carry? Those were the last words Karasu heard."

As he repeated her words Haku moved her hand to the center of his chest.

"Then a spider's lance pierced him here. And my little brother was gone."

Sen blinked as a flash of shock set her perfectly still. Her hand tingled with uncomfortable prickles as he held it pinned over his sternum. Suddenly she understood why what she'd said earlier had set him off. She understood, at least a little, why he hated the spiders so much. But he wasn't done.

"In the early hours at your parent's home you admitted fear over how much I have changed. You frighten me now as I frightened you then. You are _hard_ , Sen; much harder than Chihiro."

His voice broke on her true name. All the same it rang in her ears louder than the bell in her heart.

"I could not follow you into the furnace last night. I could not even _touch_ you. All the same, I tried and I was _burned!_ "

Sen's insides churned nauseously as she remembered the smell in his hair last night. And she tried not to see the feral yellow green fire that wasn't hers. She jolted as he lifted her hand from his chest he clasped it against the side of his face. Sen gritted her teeth as she felt the blistered skin around his eyes. She wanted to pull her hand away at first because touching the welts made her sick with shame. But then he planted a gentle kiss against the inside of her hand with his dry cracked lips.

"It is a terrible, _terrible_ thing to know I cannot always be by your side! But I know now there will be times where I cannot go where you go, and that _frightens_ me more than all the darkest hells in all the worlds! I am water. I am wind. Most of all I am weak mortal flesh and brittle bone. And that _terrifies_ me because for all your iron and fire you are also flesh and bone as I am!"

Sen wasn't sure how long she sat there listening to the distant hiss of the waves below.

Yes. She was hard. But she had to be. It was the only way they were going to get through this.

She struggled to hold onto the confident calm that had carried her across the bridge earlier.

Rolling over, she lay on the boards beside him staring up at the sky again trying to find peace.

Because she wasn't so hard that she couldn't be moved by this forlorn ever suffering river.

His words burned her until they melted through the numbness.

And so she whispered for some reason, as if that might softened her persistence.

"If we can survive a Forgotten; if we can take back Aburaya from a horde of gaki; we can get Lin and Kiri away from a bunch of spiders."

He flinched at the last word. And she cringed as well realizing only now she shouldn't have mentioned spiders. Glancing at him from the corner of her eyes she watching that haunted by the same terrors from the hallways earlier. Then he turned his face away. All the same, she could see the muscles jumping in the back of his jaw and his hands balled to fists where they lay at his sides. He sounded like his old self as he finally answered back: cold and distant, like he was thousands and thousands of miles away. But by the end he was soaked through with dread as one of his hands lifted to touch the bites at his throat.

"I am not a coward. This you know of me as no one else can. But, the spiders! If you could have seen what I have seen you would understand why I refuse to carry you into their midst!"

Sen remembered the caverns. Distantly she saw flaming arrows, breathed choking smoke, smelled the stink of burned flesh, and tasted bitter spider blood. Worst of all were the screams; screams of pain and agony. They sounded all too human. The sound might have crippled Chihiro. But Sen found herself strangely numb to the memories; numb like she had been after feeding herself to the fire. But not so immune that she didn't hear Kohaku's intense suffering. So she tried to be gentle.

"I was there, Kohaku."

It's true. And she wasn't afraid of spider. But even as she thought the words a lick of cold terror kindled in her stomach; because she was very, _very_ afraid of Garuda; especially his hands. Quickly fear turned to anger; and quietly Sen promised she would cut them off if it came to it.

And if that wasn't enough?

Then she would do what she had to do.

Sen was startled from her bloody thoughts as Kohaku sat up so swiftly wind blasted around her. Light on his toes he ran again, striding off down the balcony. But he whipped back around as she scrambled up to chases him. Standing there in his whipping wind half reaching for him Sen watched him pace back and forth making the planks beneath her feet bounce. Clenching and unclenching his balled fists, his eyes raged with incandescent turmoil until more words rushed out of him in an angry torrent.

"Yes! You were there! But do you remember how I turned against you? Do you remember the rain of arrows I cast down upon you? Shurui has _bells!_ With song she turned me against you as she turned me against Okesa. And there was nothing I could do to stop myself!

In flashes she saw the falling arrows in the dark parts of her memory. She had been forced to almost drown him with Hidé's wave to make him to stop. How many days ago had it been since the caverns? Three? Four? It seemed like ages. So much had happened it was easy to forget. But Kohaku hadn't forgotten.

"We have bells too, Kohaku. Lots and lots of bells."

As she tried to reason with him he cut her off with an angry slice of his hand.

"We had bells before and not even Okesa could wrest me from Shurui's grip! I took up my sword and my bow _and I nearly killed you both!_ "

He was almost shouting now, making gales howl and rip at her face and hair. She let him shout, enduring his storm unflinching, because he was finally telling himself the truth. And again, so many thing sbegan to make sense, because she could see how much it weighed on him still.

"This is why the spiders frighten me most! They are not dumb with hunger and suffering like Gaki and Forgotten! They are cunning and cruel! They understand the weaknesses of the mind and heart far outweigh the weaknesses of flesh! Mercilessly they exploit our affection for each other!"

Finally he looked at her.

As he did his eyes went wide as if he was just hearing everything he'd said all over again.

All the fury setting his jade irises alight and his hair wild went out of him.

Suddenly spent he turned to cling to the banister as his legs shook.

The polished wood creaked and protested as his hands tightened until his knuckles were white.

Dropping his chin he hid beneath the inky curtain of his hair as the dishwasher Kou had.

He sounded on the verge of tears, his voice shredded until she barely heard him.

"I cannot raise my hands against you again! Should you break or bleed? _I would die…!_ "

That was enough. She didn't want to hear that word anymore.

Words, words, words; Sen knew they were useless.

He wouldn't hear anything she said. So she argued with her body instead.

Before he could pull away she slipped under his arms and into the space between his chest and the rail. As his chin jerked up Sen fought the way anyone would fight to hold a river in their hands. All the same she caught his face and parted a way between her palms to kiss him. At first it was rough and he resisted, making surprised almost angry sounds against her lips. But then Sen spared a hand to seize the front of his yukata. She pulled with all her strength. Off-balance and surprised, he caught himself on the balcony railing, trapping her in the iron cage of his pale white arms. As he crashed into her, the rail cracked at her back. The edge bit into her skin, bending beneath their combined weight. It bowed and whined but she didn't listen. She didn't hear it.

Her heart was hammering in her ears making her blood sing. Driven by the need to get through to him, she tried to swallow the sadness and the fear that was drowning him. She tried to burn them away with the heat of her body, feeding the hunger of a different kind deep in her belly. Her fire was catching and all at once his hands divided and tangled their way through her hair like the fingers of sky. Or was it the wind? It raked at their robes, parting them so his soft skin slid against hers. She ran her hands inside, tracing her fingers along the knots of muscle at his back. He gasped against her mouth, breaking free as he threw back his head. And the sunlight caught his wide eyes like the tiles of the roof making them sparkling emeralds. In the same moment he caught her around the waist. Dizzy and spinning on another violent wind Sen found herself weightless again. As his arms tightened up and down got confused; the sun blotted out, suddenly leaving her cold as dimness flooded her vision. Thrilling fear surged in her chest as she remembered the gripping cold she felt in the furnace. But it smothered as the burning length of his body crashed down over her.

She was so tired of death and despair.

She was sick of feeling numb and distant.

She wanted to feel something that wasn't anger or pain.

Sen forgot everything as Kohaku made her feel so many, many things.

Again and again she kissed him, making a petulant sound as his mouth forgot hers only to rove along the soft skin of her neck; searching her collarbone; suckling her earlobe only to trace the edge of her ear with the tip of his nose as he always did. And it was maddeningly good! Hot and quick his breath made the tiny hairs on her skin prickle and stand up in waves. Shivers of pleasure sang over every inch of her skin making her sigh only to gasp as one of his hands dipped into the overlap of her yukata, parting it just enough for his mouth to work lower. She cried out as his lips closed over the hard point only swirl and swirl his tongue wickedly. Planting her feet on the ground she made soft insistent sounds as she lifted herself to meet him, squeezing his narrow hips with her knees as she writhed and rocked against his lean, lithe body.

Overcome, his rough blistered cheek crashed against the soft skin between her breasts. He let loose a soft shuddering moan that melted her insides as he caught up her rhythm, moving with her. His hands were just as rough with cracked parched skin as they found her knees. Down they tracked, following the contours of her hips to push the fabric aside. Sen was already yanking at the tie around her waist, tugging it free and throwing it somewhere. The wind had already half ripped off his clothes and she finished the job, ripping them up over his head. Clutching at the bare skin of his naked back she turned her face into long wild hair and breathed deep. By some mercy the smell of burned things was gone. So was the stink of blood. He smelled only of sweet summer rain.

And she choked on a strangled sound as he pushed into her, filling her with an indescribable sense of completeness. She locked her ankles together in the small of his back as he slide his arms under her shoulders, cradling her as he drove into her with an urgent passion; deeper and harder until his sweat slick skin slapped against hers. And it's was good! It was so good hard and fast! It was thunder and lightning because she saw flashes and crashes of exploding light behind her tightly clenched eyelids. As her world narrowed to the stunning consuming physical force of the sensation, she arched her back, fighting against the weight of his body as she thrashed and bucked, knocking and clutching her hands over her head but finding nothing to hold onto. And when the storm broke all she could see was stars. Stars and stars and stars.

Blinking and blinking, panting and gasping, she struggled to catch her breath. So did Kohaku. He was heavy on her shoulder like last night, his quick breath tickling the hairs plastered to her forehead and neck. Something was in her eyes; it blurred her sight burning painfully. She felt him go from languidly relaxed to tense and worried in a split second. Suddenly he was hanging over her, making a curtain around her face with his blue black hair. Sen could feel the weight on his eyes on her face even if she couldn't see him. As he touched the tears running from the corners of her eyes so did she. Sen hadn't even noticed them. Before he could say anything her wet fingers stopped his parted lips. She smoothed them until they were soft as a girl's, feeling his short hot breath against her palm. Her sight began to clear as she gently massaged in the salted salve, watching the angry red blisters melt away. There was nothing she could do to erase the dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes or the deepening worry lines on his brow. All the same, tiny miracles like this reminded her he was still part God after all. The look in his eyes, however, was decidedly human. Kohaku hung over her watching with a lost expression so sincere it made her chest ache with the most wonderful intense sensation.

She softened beneath his glittering green eyes.

Not as soft as Chihiro might have been.

But hopefully soft enough; hopefully familiar enough to prove she wasn't really a stranger.

He hesitated a moment as she opened her arms to him, still studying her as if at a loss. Then he lay back down beside her, pulling a yukata over them before making a pillow out of her shoulder. As he lay there tense and coiled, he picked up and worried between his thumb and finger the dragon scale she always wore around her neck. Things churned and eddied around in his head as she felt his brow tightening against her shoulder. She resisted the urge to sigh as he put down the scale and began arguing again without speaking a word. His resistance was obvious in the way his hands began brooding over her body. His fingers absently brushed across the palm-print burned into her thigh by the Forgotten. She shivered as they traced upwards, following the curve of her hip to her opposite shoulder. They came to rest on the star shaped scar where the fujo had planted an arrow in her shoulder, circling and circling until her skin prickled almost painfully.

Mildly she countered him without speaking a word. Gently she stopped his hand, stroking the broken wrist Suzume mended in the canyon beneath Oni Rocks, following it up the muscled contours of his hard shoulder. He flinched as she carefully touched the pocked welts that peppered his neck. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes as she smoothed back the hair from his face with one hand only to softly trace with the other the invisible lines that etched across the bridge of his nose and cheek. This was where the Forgotten had burned him with its acid tongue on the cliffs above Sengen's bridge. At once his face tightened, lines of old suffering turning down the corners of his mouth and cutting deep into his pale skin. Kohaku shrank with a gasp as she dropped her hand to draw her fingers across the old scar tissue that ran in parallel lines across the wall of his stomach. Here the Forgotten had clawed him, nearly killing him.

Hurriedly he stopped her hand, squeezing hard only to reveal the thick bar of new scar tissue that cut across the middle of his palm. She hadn't noticed it before and Sen startled at its discovery. He said he'd been burned but she didn't realize he'd been burned this badly. But as she tried to catch his hand to turn it over and inspect the new wound he refused, trapping her hand against his chest. Before she could worm her palm free to argue more, he caught her tightly in his arms. She froze as he squeezed her so hard it hurt. But as he began to shake she knew she'd made her point. The marks they both bore upon their bodies brought their silent dispute to an impasse.

Sighing gustily, she hurriedly stroked his hair again, planting gentle kissed on his knotted brow and trying to soothe him with wordless solace. Wrapping her arms around his waist Sen held him close as he shivered convulsively. Thinking he was cold she hooked her legs through his and burrowed against his chest offering her heat. As he tucked her head under his chin the fast violent thud of his heart beat insistently against her cheek. They clung to each other even as the cold point of Sengen's jewel began to burn in a point of ice against her bare skin. It was crushed between them, as was the scale. And Kohaku cringed as a bright beam of sunlight slanted in as it peeked under the outside eave. Blinking through the pooled light, Sen watched the sun sink with a slowly deepening sense of dread. As if sensing her anxiety Kohaku rolled away, turning his back on the deepening afternoon and hiding her in his shadow. He buried his face in her hair holding his breath as if he could hold everything else in place as well. Then he loosed the breath in a gusty harried sigh only to concede quietly.

"I will carry you to Clock Tower Town."

He forced the words through his clenched teeth as if he hated every one.

"Promise me this: if my body betrays you strike me down! Do not let her use me against you!"

Sen tried to think of something encouraging to say that she hadn't said before.

But her head just emptied out leaving her with absolutely nothing.

And he barked like the fox, giving her an insistent shake.

"Promise me!"

She hurriedly nodded, suddenly finding herself in the grip of terrible cold. The bell was humming in her heart ominously, making her blood turn to ice. Then her stomach uttered an enraged growl. Sen was stunned to stillness as Kohaku chuckled low and soft. The sound tickled her naked chest where it pressed into his making her heart surge up into her throat sending her head swimming dizzily as he sat up carrying her with him.

"Did you not eat anything I cooked earlier?"

She found herself frowning as she couldn't lie. The cold evidence was on the adjacent table.

"No…"

Only now did embarrassed heat climb into her cheeks as she hurriedly glanced around the sitting room worried someone might have heard them… um… Half afraid Suzume might come storming in at any moment all in a huff over where she'd been Sen stuffed herself back into her yukata, grabbing the waist tie only to make a snarled mess out of the knot. Still gloriously naked and sitting beside her like some kind of roman garden statue, Kohaku leaned over and stopped her hands trying to hide the smirk pulling at the pink bow of his lips by lowering his head demurely.

"Your yukata is inside out, dear one. And that is my obi."

All the blood in her body surged into her face as she held out her arms and realized he was right. His emerald eyes sparkled merrily as he scooted closer, bending his head to patiently picked out the mess she'd made of the knot. Sen sucked in a breath sitting back on her heels swimming in giddy thrills as he gently slipped his hands inside the collar of her yukata as he had earlier, rekindling her blood and making her already flushed face burn with something else entirely. Chewing her lip, she barely resisted the urge to jump on him again as he slowly removed her robe and turned it right side. Ever move was smooth and beautiful as if it'd been choreographed as part of some performance. Sen gawked as he lifted to his feet moving like only a God could. She blinked rapidly, scrambling upright without a shred of grace as he held the yukata open for her. As she slipped her hands through the indigo sleeves he deftly crossed the collars, magically producing her obi and expertly blousing up the extra length only to tie the sash in a small neat bow.

Standing there meekly as he dressed her, Sen's chest squeezed as it filled with so many conflicting sensations. Suddenly she wanted to brush out his hair. He loved having his hair brushed. And she wanted to do something to return the devotion he was showing her. As she turned away trying to think of where she could find a comb he caught her from behind. His long lean arms encircled her waist as he yanked her against him. The back of her head knocked against his naked chest with a hollow sound. Sen gasped as he squeezed and her feet almost left the ground as he journeyed his mouth across the exposed nape of her neck only to kiss her shoulder so very lightly. Then he tickled the edge of her ear with his nose. He might as well throw gasoline on an open fire! A loud hungry moan escaped her mouth as she threw her head to the side to escape the overwhelming sensation, trying to find the presence of mind to speak.

"Again?" She inquired breathlessly.

"Again and again and again!" He demanded ardently.

His golden tenor hummed deep in his chest, vibrating between them deliciously. Needing no encouragement, Sen snaked her arms up around his neck moving against him as he ground his hips into her back. He trembled as she felt desire ignite all through him and his long lashes fluttering against her neck making her skin thrill and shiver. It left her desperate to have him inside her again. His hands seemed similarly inclined as they yanked and pulled at the front of her the yukata, undoing all his earlier work. She turned her face for his and was rewarded as his mouth claimed hers, pursuing her with such hunger that he melted her, bending her backwards over the unyielding crook of his arm. Soft, silky, and quick; his tongue filled her with the taste of rain as his other hand explored down, down, down. As she cried out he swallowed the sound, never relenting. He had to hold her upright as her legs went weak with wanting. Wanting, and wanting; they wanted them to spill onto the floor right back where they'd been earlier. And why not?

The sun was sinking at their backs. Night was coming.

But right now they were together. They were warm and clean and safe.

All they had was now and there might not be a later.

Unfortunately now didn't last very long.

"Oi!" Cinna demanded from outside the sliders, "Where's yeh's at, neh kitten!?"

The cat yanked the sliding doors open only to freeze.

She hung there on the threshold and her red eyes went wide.

Sen scrambled to yank the front of her yukata shut as Kohaku ducked behind her for cover.

The cat stared for a long, long second.

Her pupils dilated bigger and bigger until they swallowed her red entirely.

Then she slammed the sliders shut.

Cinna's shrieking laughter invaded all the same and Sen hid her face in her hands.

She could have caught fire right there for the smoldering heat rolling off her cheeks.

"Go away, Okesa!" Kohaku commanded angrily, "Do not come back for at least an hour!"

Sen found herself frowning. Only an hour?

" _Rabbits!"_ The cat howled, "Yeh's as bad as _rabbits_ , neh!"

As Cinna continued to cackle and cat call from beyond the sliders Sen sighed.

At least it hadn't been Suzume.


	33. Chapter 33

**LIN**

Horror so complete propelled Lin to her feet as finally Shurui's intentions became clear.

But there was nothing she could do.

There was absolutely nothing she could do.

That realization brought her crashing down to her knees. Sick with helplessness, she forced herself into a corner grinding her teeth against screams, because if she made any noise Shurui could have her killed. The spider didn't need her anymore. And Lin had nothing left to bargain with. She was completely at the mercy of monsters. Strangely though, she could leave at any time. No one would stop her. All the same, she was trapped.

Her son! Makoto!

She couldn't leave the kit to Shurui know what the spider planned for him!

Inside her head Lin keened and wailed.

But her all her rage she was left to writhe in silence.

Somehow Shurui managed to squeeze water from stone.

Without making a sound Lin wept for the first time she could remember.

It nearly drove her mad, forcing her inside out until there was nothing left in her head.

Slowly surfacing from somewhere deep in her head, Lin heard someone singing. Lin wasn't sure how long she'd sat there. Somehow she found herself balled up on the floor against the foot of the bed. Her back was to the wall and her long legs tucked up, she pressed her forehead to her knees wedging her hand between her shins and the bed's footboard. In the narrow fold of her body, hidden away in the front of her yukata, Kokoro nursed and slept and then nursed more even as she slept.

Her daughter was starving, which made Lin nauseous with terror; because if she stayed she risked exposing Kokoro to the spider's indifference. Shoving herself further into the nook she tried to hide the kit even though that was utterly impossible. She could feel vibrations humming through the metal hull of the train. It jostled from time to time. Distantly she could hear laughter and happy singing filtered through the iron shutters. Every do often the sharp commanding bark of women's voices spiked from afar. They cut through the soft lullaby Fumiko sang from the adjacent couch. For some reason her singing didn't bother Lin. Not that Lin was really listening.

The spider was spinning. She produced impossibly thin silk from thin air while twisting a gold pendulum. Fascinated, Lin watched as it spun, endlessly twirled by a fluttering flock of white hands. Every so often Fumiko would wind the length around the bobbin in her lap. She didn't stop spinning even as she was winding. She had hands to spare. Even as two or three kept spinning she would hold up the bobbin to frown considering the white filament. It would change colors beneath her eyes, flashing every vibrant color in the rainbow before returning to white. She sighed as if undecided and returned to her spinning instead.

"Lin?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin as Kiri whispered from above her. Scrambling aside clutching Kokoro to her chest, she stared askance up at the human. Gods above, she kept forgetting about the poor thing! Wan and haunted, the sick-faced female was perched on the food of the bed huddled under her unnerving invisible black cloud that seemed to make all the light flee the world. Lin startled again as her eyes slid to the carefully folded bundle of gold fabric the human hugged to her chest as if it was the only thing in the world that gave her any comfort. It was the strange kimono that Shurui worshipped, the one that held the soul of the God-not-of-this-land. The human's pale eye seemed to gleam in the dark as she bent closer, whispering beneath her breath.

"Garuda wants to see Kubi. If you come with me I think we can see your son."

Not hearing a word she said Lin leaned away gritting her teeth.

Something was different about the human. Somehow she had changed.

Whatever was different made her insides scrambled in instinctive panic.

Suddenly and for no apparent reason, Lin was very, very afraid of the female.

With that Kiri climbed to her feet moving with such slow listlessness Lin was afraid she might keel over and pass out. Dressed from head to toe in white, she looked like a ghost in her whisper thin spider silk kimono. Scrambling upright using the wall to force herself up, Lin loitered in the human's wake as she shuffled for the door with painful slowness. Fumiko dropped her spinning as she caught sight of the human. Scrambling over the back of the couch, the spider put the piece of furniture between her and the human cowering there as if Kiri was a monster.

"I-I'm sorry, but you have to stay here!"

As Kiri ignored her the terrified spider called for her sister.

"Shimizu! Shimizu, what should I do!?"

The door to the car yanked open as the tall scar-faced soldier spider stormed in with lances clutched in her gauntleted fists. But even the warrior God shrank from Kiri. Stunned, Lin realized they were afraid of Kiri. More than afraid; they were terrified of her. Here Shimizu bowed with deep formality, holding her lances horizontal to the ground as she barred the way.

"I am sorry, human! Shurui says you must stay here!"

Kiri trudged forward staring at the ground with a vacant expression at odds with her earlier terror over Tomoe. It was as if she didn't care if the spider killed her or let her live. Shimizu was forced to take a step backwards as the human approached only to pause. Still hugging the golden kimono, Kiri lifted her dead gaze to stare right at the spider. As she did such a look of ferocious hatred stained her pale face with black and terrible things. The room seemed to darken and every hair on Lin's body stood on end.

"Then stop me."

Overhead the mushi scrambled in their glass globes, making the room crawl with shadows. Kokoro squalled, struggling fitfully as if sensing imminent danger. Lin shushed her hurriedly, dividing her harried attention between the human and the warrior spider. Beneath the domed flares of her helmet Shimizu had gone absolutely white in the face, visibly struggling with terror. Pointing her lances at Kiri now, the warrior God continued backing away as the haggard female took another step forward. It was a strange thing to see the large seasoned soldier girded in black lacquered armor armed to the teeth backing down from a half-dead human.

"What do you want?!"

Kiri spoke in a dead voice.

"We want to see Kubi."

We? Lin blinked. Who was she talking about? Then spider shook her head vigorously, making her armor clack and clank.

"The traitor is with Shurui! You cannot see her!"

Shimizu backed right into the wall beside the open door as Kiri continued to advance. She gasped, scrambling with her lances only to drop them. As they stood upright in the floor quivering visibly the soldier lost her nerve and clambered up the wall onto the ceiling out of reach. Kiri paused beneath her, looking up without so much as flinching.

"Then take us to see Shurui."

Again Kiri spoke in her dead voice. No, she didn't just speak. She commanded. As if the sound had slapped her awake Fumiko jerked upright. With wooden hurried movements she skirted around Kiri bowing and bowing all the while gesturing with her many hands towards the door.

"C-come with me! I will show you the way."

Shimizu called from the ceiling uncertainly in a voice thin with worry for her sister.

"Not you, Fumi-chan! If Shurui sees you…!"

But Fumiko was already sprinting ahead of them holding open the door to the opposite car. Lin clutched Kokoro close as she continued making unhappy mewling noises. Here Lin almost jumped out of her skin as she stepped on Kiri's shadow. And electric shock jolted up the back of her leg. Dancing aside she stared askance at the ground and found the human had two shadows. One was obviously hers, plodding behind her as if just as exhausted. The other bore enormous feathered wings. It flittered and danced around the room with a life of its own.

Clambering around Kiri to escape the sudden scrutiny of her second shadow Lin sprinted through the narrow accordion connection between the cars. Anxiously she and Fumiko skirted ahead of the human, glancing over their shoulders again and again back at the white specter as they passed through the echoing storage car. Glancing to the side Lin frowned at the empty rice sacks strewn all across the floor. Last time she had passed through this way it had been half full of food. Again they clambered through another creaking connector compartment into the passenger car. Here Lin came up short as she found the iron shutters had been lifted.

The glass windows were open to the air.

And what she saw outside was more than familiar.

The underground station beneath the clock tower was carved from the same pale white stone as the cliffs beside Yubaba's Bath House. It was partially a natural cavern and enormous stalagmites and stalactites joined to form supporting pillars thick as tree trunks. These held up the distant ceiling of rock that hung over the wide solid stone platforms that lifted up beside either side of the track. The faded paint of smashed and rotting concession stands cluttered the walls beneath wide staircases carved from the living stone. Worn with ruts from the tromping of thousands of feet, the casements lifted away from the waiting areas only to duck beneath the arched toothless mouths of gloom-filled tunnels that climbed out into the stomach of the clock tower above.

Once only ghosts had dared to roam around down here.

But now the subterranean station was crawling with spiders.

And they had transformed the place into a carnival of color and light.

The spiders had carried their lanterns out into the cavern making themselves right at home beneath the dripping stone ceiling. Scores of flickering lights hung in baskets of every size, shape, and color from long thick silk lines anchored high into the stone ceiling. Lin saw the glistening black bodies of soldier spiders as they trundled across the high cave walls. The women anchored more thick lines among those that dropped to drape low over the rows of square tents. Constructed from thick pillars of glistening hardened silk, the tents secured to the lines above woven from pale obscuring screens of every garish hue Lin knew. Behind the screens shadow puppets danced and played as shamisen and biwa twanged and hummed. From afar the sound of singing she'd heard earlier drifted in the air like the smell of burning incense. When she was afforded a glance inside the encampments she could see they had spread mats on the stone platform, piling them high with plump plush cushions. Older spiders lazed on them smoking from long handled pipes. Lin stared in amazement as a group of young spider woman produced more and more pillows from thin air only to bounce them like balls, laughing merrily as they made them change color with each swat of their hands.

Those who weren't setting up camp were weaving.

Kneeling in rows on cushions, the fluttering flashing flocks of their white, white hands flashed like moth wings in the dark as they blurred about the looms. Made of the same shiny hardened spider silk as the tent pillars, the jumbled stretched apparatuses suspended like webs from the tent framing. Thin threads of the warp and weft gleamed and glinted in the semi-dark like wet jewels and precious metals. Under the singing and the laughing all Lin could hear was the _click-clack_ of lifting and dropping heddles punctuated by the whipping, whirring zip of thousands of shuttles and millions of humming silk threads.

"What are they doing?" Kiri asked faintly.

Lin and Fumiko startled as they found the human standing directly behind them. The spider knocked back into the wall trembling visibly as she bowed to Kiri over and over.

"They are making clothes."

Skittering sideways, Fumiko made room so Kiri could shuffle up to peer out the windows.

"Why?"

"Because we have been invited to a Tea House and we don't want to look like paupers."

Kokoro squealed as Lin whirled toward the coupling passage behind them. Glittering like a blade of obsidian in the dark, Shimizu loitered in the gloom toying several short daggers of silk through her many hands. Lin's hand drifted to the single knife at her waistband as she realized the spider was looking at Kiri's back with her calculating red gaze. Seeing the movement the soldier's eyes turned on her instead. Her glittering red gaze was more than dangerous, it was cunning. But here the warrior God scolded her sister hotly, keeping her voice low as if afraid of who might be listening.

"Don't try Shurui's patience, you little idiot! She's mad at you enough already! I may be the captain of the guard but I can't keep covering for you!"

Fumiko sulked angrily before muttering under her breath.

"If she kills me at least our sisters will see she's gone mad like like…!"

The handmaiden spider jolted back against the wall of the car as her sister was on her. Lin threw herself sideways into a seat dragging Kiri with her. Kokoro squawked in surprise as they tumbled onto the threadbare cushions making the rusty springs within squeal just as loudly. Her hammering heart was in her throat because she hadn't seen Shimizu move! Just as stunned, Fumiko threw up the fluttering white flock of her hands in submission as her sister seized her by the front of her kimono with a hand pinning her there. Another hand slapped over her mouth as the others clenched and wrung the daggers' hilts. Growling beneath the visor edge of her helmet Shimizu hissed in her sister's face.

" _Don't you dare say that ever again!"_

The Warrior God wasn't angry. She was terrified; even more terrified than she'd been when Kiri chased her up onto the roof. Shimizu gave Fumiko a shake, almost spitting in her face as she choked on her vehemence.

"You are going to _live_ , hear me!? I just got you back! I'm not losing you again!"

Unimpressed by any of this, the human sat up and reached out for the handle in the car's wall only to twist it. Lin startled violent as a door popped open in the side of the carriage. Kiri climbed down the steps outside and began shuffling off along the platform as if she knew where she was going. Shimizu cursed beneath her breath as she dropped Fumiko and hurried out after the human, taking up the lead only to glance back again and again at the Kiri uncertainly.

"Quickly!" Fumiko breathed faintly, pointing at the door. "Before we lose Shimizu."

Lin's insides scrambled and tripped over themselves as she followed the spider out of the car. At once the underground station opened over her head echoingly large. The ceiling was three if not four times the height of Onsen's roof. She had been trapped in small dark places for too long and the change made her slightly dizzy. Following Fumiko's lead she fell in behind the handmaiden spider. With Shimizu at the front and Kiri in the middle they made a strange parade through the gaudy lights of the spiders' camp. Spider girls dressed in stripes of black, yellow, and red fled with screams as they passed. And all the looms seemed to come to a hissing silence as they made a sharp left down a narrow passage between the billowing white walls of the tents. Glittering white lines creaked and moaned over their heads and Lin shuddered as the billowing spider silk tickled around her ankles. The filaments had an eerie smell, like slightly soured milk. She could hear more hisses from the interiors of the pavilions as silence fell ahead of them. And the weight of the God women's bloody red eyes burned at her back as they peered in scores out of the gloom.

 _"Tatarigami!"_ Someone hushed in terror as Kiri shuffled by unconcerned.

Tatarigami: a God of retribution. Lin ground her teeth grimly wishing that could be true.

"Shut your mouth!" Shimizu snarled back, turning in search of the offending speaker.

A frightened thicket of spider women scrambled up onto the lines suspending their tent. They all wore gaudy glittering kimono and hung overhead glowering with accusing eyes as Lin plodded by. The shout startled Kokoro making her cry. The warrior spider glared over her shoulder barking orders.

"Shut that baby up, weasel woman!"

If only it were that easy. Kokoro continued to utter stifled gasps even as Lin shushed and bounced her, trying to get her to take her breast. But she didn't have enough hands to hold her and nurse her. Scrambling in exasperation and trying to keep up, Lin startling again as Fumiko appeared at her side offering more and more hands than she liked.

"May I take her?"

Instantly she jerked away baring her teeth.

"No!"

Lin cringed with a gasp as a silk bomb exploded against an adjacent silk pillar spraying her face and hair with stick tangling filaments. She knocked sideways away from the projectile clawing at her face to rip the threads free. She dropped to one knee as her heart hammered in the top of her throat making her dizzy with nausea. And Shimizu's hard voice called back an open threat.

"Bite at Fumiko again and I'll take off your other arm."

"Enough!" The handmaiden scolded angrily.

Turning her back Shimizu spread her many, many hands as if proving she was innocent. The daggers were gone but no doubt not far.

"What? I'm only protecting my little sister. Perhaps if she was more careful…"

As Shimizu left her comment hanging Fumiko glared at the soldier's back. Here the handmaiden spider took Lin's only arm and hoisted her back to her feet. Bearing her entire weight, the God woman proved herself stronger than she looked. Fumiko ushered Lin forward under the low hanging lanterns. All the while her other hands flashed and darted around Lin's opposite shoulder. From thin air the spider wove a wide length of fabric across Lin's chest only to stitch it into a sling that instantly cradled Kokoro's weight. As if enjoying the tight security of her new swaddling, the kit quieted. Lin's skin crawled at the touch of the spider silk. But, she could not refuse it either.

"For the baby."

Fumiko whispered in her ear cheerfully as a pair of hands smoothed her creation.

"It'll be more secure than your yukata. Plus it will help keep your hands free."

Hands. Fumiko said hands. Lin only had one hand. The spiders hand many. Again Shimizu was staring back at Kiri as if not sure what to make of her.

"What makes you so sure Shurui will see you, human?"

Kiri dragged herself along in the solider's spider unfazed by her question.

"She doesn't want to see me. But she won't be able to refuse Garuda."

Shimizu looked back sharply at that. She split her unnerved red gaze between the gold kimono in the human's hands and Fumiko. As the Handmaiden spider nodded cryptically Shimizu paled and threw her eyes forward. Her armor clattered and clanked when her stride lengthened as if she wanted nothing more than to leave the human and her unnatural burden behind. Stumbling along under Fumiko's guidance Lin lifted her head and stared up at the grand gabled pavilion that lifted out of the squat rows of tents. The air above it was thick with a crisscrossing network of all the silk lines needed to keep its high roof suspended. The marquee was on fire with red lanterns and flickering shadows writhed against the interior as the _click-clack-snick_ of a working loom issued from within. Rows of spider soldiers in full regalia and baring razor-sharp lances flanked the entrance. More lined the approach with beetle black armor polished to a glossy sheen that looked almost wet in the lantern light. The soldier's towered over them like obsidian statues as they passed.

Their red eyes tracked them curiously until they caught sight of Kiri.

A handful broke ranks, shrinking from the human as she passed.

Shimizu strode ahead of them confidently as if summoned by Shurui herself.

The tall horse-faced spider held the front tent flap open, waving them inside impatiently.

The sumptuous interior of the tent must have taken scores of spiders hours to construct. Tall curtains of heavy, heavy silk draped from the walls and ceiling in overlapping patterns of summer grasses, spring flowers, decorative checks and busy, busy stripes. All rioted in ostentation color combinations even Yubaba would've found in bad taste. Blackened lacquer pots made of stuff similar to spider armor issued thick plumes of incense that filled the rafters with a thin haze of sweet smoke. Mushi scrambled inside the chandelier of globe glass lanterns overhead as Kiri passed by beneath. Instantly shadows clambered up the tent walls peeling eerie insectarous silhouettes off the enormous loom at the back wall. But Shurui wasn't working it. Lounging on a mountain of pillows the spider queen napped idly rocking with her bare toes a silk cradle suspended from a tripod of hardened filaments set up at the foot of her couch. At once Lin's heart went into her throat and she stood on the tips of her toes struggling to see inside knowing her son was sleeping there.

Then Lin saw the letter where it was left folded open on the floor. She recognized the yellow-gold stationary of the Laughing Moon Tea House. Yubaba complained regularly that the shōjō proprietress was stealing her business. The restaurant's only appeal was its Chinese food and the view from its third floor. Other than that is was just as shabby as the rest of the shops in Clock Tower Town.

As the skin between her shoulders crawled Lin was forced to look aside at the great loom. Seated there, still soaked through with exertion, was the God woman in the green kimono from the kitchen. She worked the enormous heddles with her entire body. At the back of her loom yards and yards of black silk suspended in looping lengths brocaded with brilliant gold and silver threads that wove orb webs across the fabric. Ensnared in the lines here and there was a butterfly so red it looked like it had been soaked in blood. Her skill was evident as the captivating pattern seemed to come to life. The trapped butterflies almost fluttered and struggled in the gloom. But like the sorry insects she wove from spider silk, the strange burned God woman wore a thick iron collar of captivity around her neck. Even though she never stopped working, the blades of her silver eyes cut across the room, pricking Lin's skin with her intense attention.

Lin jerked as an ugly brown pillow stirred only to reveal it was the bat. Slouched beside Shurui's couch like a dog, Bah Fuh's lifted her head up as they entered. At once the hideous bat was snuffling the air loudly as she scratched under her tangled wig with a broken stick. She cocked her head back and forth spastically as the huge cups of her vein laced ears twitched and quivered. The bat licked her wet winkled nose over and over with the thin pink edge of her darting tongue.

"Somethings different… Something's changed… I smell bad luck, Shurui!" Bah Fuh finally croaked, "Quick! Toss it out before it touches us!"

The spider queen roused, pushing up out of the sea of pillows blinking sleepy ruby eyes. Her long hair was loose and it fell in a black river that coiled and looped across the floor between them. The crimson kimono she wore was thinner than a summer breeze revealing her naked body beneath. Shurui's hair snaked across the stone floor she sat upright. Outrage twisted her terrible beautiful face as she glared at Shimizu with open animosity.

"What is this!? I didn't summon you!"

The soldier's armor clanked as she dropped to one knee bowing her head.

"Forgive me, mother. We are here at Garuda's will."

Shurui was on her feet in the middle of the couch slack faced with astonishment as Kiri shuffled out of Shimizu's shadow. The gold kimono clutched in her arms glittered almost incandescent in the mushi light. All the while the bat tugged and yanked on the hem of Shurui's robe pointing insistently at the human.

"There it is, Shurui! Get it out, quick!"

The spider queen shoved the blind creature away with her foot.

"Shut up, bat!"

Ignoring the spider queen entirely, Kiri teetered toward the loom sagging with exhaustion.

"N-no!" Shurui half shrieked. _"Stay away from her!"_

Lin fell to her knees clutching Kokoro as the great bass voice of the iron bell rang inside the tent. Fumiko flattened to the ground between her and Shimizu as its compelling voice crushed them to the stone. Crumpled there Lin watched in dismay as Kiri jerked backwards and fell hard, tumbling sideways across the hard stone floor as if dragged by invisible hands. Kiri lost her hold on the gold kimono and it unfurled as she rolled. Bah Fuh scrambled out of the way as the beleaguered human came to rest in the middle of the room just in front of Shurui's couch. Panting and cringing in pain, she lay on her stomach with her head bowed to the stone. Her elbows were bloody where they had dragged on the stone. As if equally surprised, Shurui stared down at the human holding her black fan out to the side where she had thrown it with one of her pale hands. The spider queen's face tightened with apprehension as she hurriedly glanced back and forth between the human and the length of gold silk. Kiri held the hem in her hands, clutching it tightly until her raw scraped knuckles went whiter than white.

Both the kits were wailing now.

At once several of the guards posted and the door invaded, attracted by Shurui's shout.

Again the black bell clanged angrily as Shurui strode forward and dropped to her feet.

Furling and flicking her fan in swatting motions she expelled the soldiers physically.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

Under cover of all the confusion Shimizu seized Fumiko, clamping one of her hands over her sister's mouth. Fixing Lin with a cold unwavering stare she hauled the struggling spider through a side entrance before Shurui noticed them. Scrambling on hand and knees out of the trampling path of the spider queen's feet Lin edged over to Kiri. With wooden movements cramped by worry, she crouched there and hauled the human over into her lap as Kokoro continued to bawl. But the human needed her only hand more than the kit. Kiri wouldn't let go of the gold fabric, pulling it with her. It made Lin's insides shriek and claw as it whispered across her skin. It burned like the touch of hot mortal fire! Unconscious thanks to the spreading bruise at her temple, the human's lids fluttered revealing nothing but the sickly whites of her eyes.

"Bad luck!" Bah Fuh chittered in pain from where she groveled somewhere, "Bad, bad luck!"

The bat's sniveling was almost lost in the breathy persistent wailing of the kits. Lin cringed, clinging to Kiri as a shadow fell over them blotting the scrambling lights above.

"Is she alive?"

Shurui's voice was thin with worry. Lin could feel the tremulous throb of the human's heart under her hand. And she nodded finally.

"Yes."

The towering God woman heaved a sigh of relief. But then the world went cold as the spider bent closer, hissing between her teeth. Every hair on Lin's arms stood up at the hint of murder in Shurui's quiet voice.

"I am getting _tired_ of you, weasel woman!"

Panic surged and scrambled in her too small chest, making it hard to breathe let alone think through Kokoro's muffled sniveling. But her agile mind was turning as she stared sideways at the letter's gilded paper. Her keen eyes reading snippets of the flowering ink script. Lin swallowed with difficulty, trying to crush the quaver in her voice as she forced herself to speak.

"A thin blue oni with piggish eyes brought that letter, didn't he?"

Startled by her knowledge, Shurui straightened letting light flood down from above. Lin continued hurriedly, offering more to whet the spider's curiosity.

"His name is Ao-kun. He works for Mei Mei, the proprietress of the Laughing Moon."

"How…?" Shurui breathed in bewilderment.

Gods couldn't lie. So Lin was obliged to tell the truth in a rush.

"I was an indentured servant at the Bath House on the other side of the river beyond Clock Tower Town for many years. Ask Mei Mei about Aburaya and Yubaba if you don't believe me."

Here she pressed her luck, nervously patting Kokoro, slowly soothing the kit to silence.

"If you want to make it to Heian-Kyo you'll need more than coal. You'll need gold and lots of it. The Kansai Gods don't open their gate for anyone. You'll need a pile of gold for all the bribes you'll need to make along the way. I know where you can find both coal and gold right here in Clock Tower Town."

Lin held her breath and ground her teeth in the ensuing silence.

 _Clack-click-snick!_ The great loom hushed as if in warning from distance. _Click-clack-snick!_

And Lin startled as Shurui whirled away, sweeping the ground with the heavy hem of her crimson silk robes as her long black hair snaked behind her in a shining river of black. Her naked body was a long white blade of sinuous curves beneath the sighing silk as she strode to the cradle, bending over it cooing and burbling. Lin's heart raged and squeezed with terror as the spider rocked the cradle with her many hands until Makoto's lusty crying dwindles to snuffling sighs. Straightening to her full height, the spider queen's head almost brushed one of the low hanging orbs on the chandelier above. Glancing back over her shoulder Shurui's hostile red eyes glittered with suspicion.

"Why reveal this now?"

Lin wasn't looking at her anymore. Clutching Kokoro close she stared at the cradle.

"If I can get you gold and coal let me stay with my son!"

Shurui turned her back as if considering that. Lin realized she was holding her breath as the spider answered with carefully crafted indifference.

"You may join us at the tea house. We shall eat and drink then find the truth in your words."

Again the promise of death darkened her low velvet voice.

"I don't need you anymore, weasel woman. If you betray me I will not hesitate to kill you."

Lin glared at the God woman's back as her fingers itched to hold the handle of Umi's blade. Not if I kill you first, spider; Lin chewed the bitter words silently. Not if I kill you first. But now that they were bargaining something else occurred to her.

"One more thing. Let the human go. This place is killing her."

Shurui scoffed at that. Her indifference was real now.

"She is killing herself, weasel woman. But I need her to live until Heian-Kyo. She seems to like you. Keep her alive and you can stay with your son. After that I do not care."

Lin seethed and squirmed with hate as she glowered at the spider's back. Ignoring her, Shurui turned toward the front of the tent and shouted commandingly.

"Send in my handmaidens!"

After a short moment a knot of trembling spider women skittered only to kneel and bow. Lin frowned deeply as she scanned the lot for Fumiko and found her missing. Shurui tossed a dismissive hand as she went back to her couch.

"Dress the weasel properly! I won't have her offending our host!"

* * *

 **HAKU**

Like a slip of cloud he floated high in the empty dusk sky. The blood red sun had just sunk beneath the western horizon. A thin line of orange clung to the indigo curve of the heaven making the distant glowing bar of buildings that comprised Clock Tower Town seem to emit a shimmering heat like smoldering gold, red, and green coals. Indeed, a thick haze of smoke hung over the knot of tilting structures that scrambled up the slight hill to huddle around the dark spire as if to escape the water lapping at their feet. The glowing face of the clock tower reflected on its mirrored black surface like a red moon. Staring at the dark looming silhouette Haku tried not to let the cold churning fear in his tight chest make him sink.

Nervously glancing down at the wide glassy surface of the night river he watched it well in murky eddying whirlpools making the crossing a treacherous network of conflicting tides. But as light as he was a heavy weight towed on the haft of his umbrella. The thick line of spider silk secured to the handle crook creaked. It hissed and hummed with eerie undulating sounds as it cut through the singing air back down to where it tied to the prow of the boat. Tomoe and Kuromi had stolen the narrow craft so they could make a harried crossing on the heels of dawn. But their purloined craft had come in handy. There was no way he could fly them all least of all the cat and the fox. Okesa had threatened him with knives when he offered to take her by sky. Haku had not pressed the point and there was no telling how Suzume might have reacted.

Once again the craft got caught in a swirling whirlpool.

The diverting water pulled him to stillness midair where he twirled giddily.

Glancing down sharply at a retching sound Haku frowned in dismay. Not for the first time Okesa was sick over the stern of the boat. Sen's phoenix mask flashed in the thin mists as her indigo form bent beside the cat to console her. Okesa did not travel well by sky or by water. Apparently the fox shared her affliction. Seated in the middle of the boat clinging to each side with burned charcoal hands Suzume sat rigid as a board. Standing in the prow of the boat riding its undulating circling path without so much as tipping, the spider's pale face seemed to glow like the moon in the filtered light rolling off the distant town. As Kuromi looked up at him her red eyes burned in the dark like candle wicks.

Tomoe had remained on the beach as the boat almost foundered under his weight.

Okesa had not protested. She had yet to speak a word to the sad specter.

And so they left the ghost to guard the bath house.

Kuromi, however, had insisted on accompany them.

She just appeared on the shore scaring him up into the sky on a violent gust.

Throwing his eyes ahead Haku struggled to swallow his scrambling heart as it slammed up into his mouth. And he felt himself begin to sink as the stone of disquiet deep in the pit of his stomach grew heavier. Hurriedly he blew breath after long gusting breath into the billowing fabric of his umbrella. Up he lifted until straining and humming the line went taut. Sweat broke out all over his body as he fought to pull them out of the waters' whirling grasp. But they were too heavy; he was out of breath, and mounting despair made him sink. The boat was far too small for the many bodies it carried. Waves already lapped at the top edges, cresting over the sides until the bottom was wet with standing water. Haku could not join them hence he had taken to the air. But he could not fly and command the unruly waves below to be still. There was no knowing if the water would hear him. The night river was brackish. Fresh water blithely obliged him. But salt water paid him no heed. Besieged by conflict, he called down for help.

"Still the waters, dear one!"

She stood shakily and her voice drifted up thin with trepidation.

"Really!?"

He gritted his teeth then announced for all to hear his weakness.

"I cannot keep aloft and calm the waves at once! I need your assistance!"

"Um…! Okay…!"

She did not sound confident even as she struggled to stand on the tipping planks. The boat bucked and wobbled as it continued to spin and spin. Sen could barely keep her feet let alone catch hold of the unruly waves. There was too much water and she had nothing in which to anchor herself. Back to grinding his teeth Haku sank lower and lower as the stone in his heart weighted heavier and heavier. As he went to war with himself over what to do suddenly Haku lurched forward. His surprise threw a violent punch of wind up into the umbrella tines as he gained speed. Casting his wide eyes back down to the boat Haku watched in surprise as six white oars slapped and cut their way through the waves.

Now seated at the middle of the boat, Kuromi rowed rhythmically adding the strength of her many hands to his wind. Encouraged, Haku redoubled his efforts, heaving them in wide sinuous curves around the many maelstroms afflicting the water until shallows on the outskirts of town flowed by beneath choked with obscuring weeds. Ghosting by overhead on a gale that set the reeds and trees rustling and swaying, Haku arched higher and higher, lifting the nose of the boat so he could tow it through the muck up onto the sandy bank.

Okesa was a tiny blot of black as she sprinted out of the reeds up onto the shore. Leaping from foot to foot shaking her claws, the cat silently danced out her horrors. Suzume joined her just as quickly. The fox blurred through the wafting grasses, a bright point of white in the thickening night. Sen emerged next, walking a bit bow legged as if the stillness of the ground caused her trouble. Kuromi followed in her shadow cautiously scanning the woods beyond the empty bank. But the spider hand transformed beneath the tall waving weeds. From head to toe she wore the curvilinear black armor so polished it looked wet in the glinting light of Clock Tower Town. Even from his height he could see the sharp edges of the hardened silk short swords she held in two of her many hands. The sight flicked a switch deep in his head that made his sight turn red. Folding his umbrella he fell, swooping like an eagle Haku hit the ground hard. A violent wind detonated beneath his feet knocking Sen into the mud. Haku advanced on Kuromi pointing the blade of his finger.

"Take that off!" He thundered, _"Take it off!"_

Startled by his violent appearance, the spider retreated back into the obscuring folded shadows of the weeds holding up her empty hands like white flags of surrender. Before he could chase her another hand tightened on his shoulder so strong it hurt. Suzume forced him round and the soggy fox bared his teeth in furious exasperation.

" _Dragon!_ You are being irrational!"

This from the fox! Haku threw off his hand and barked right back in his face.

"Yes! And I do not care!"

Suzume was forced to throw up a hand to forestall the punch of wind Haku's words threw into the God's face. Blinking rapidly as angry mistrals cut back to tear around his face Haku only now heard himself speak. With a sinking sense of contrition he realized he was behaving just badly as he had earlier. It was exactly as the fox said; he was being unreasonable. For all his wind and bluster there was nothing he could do to prevent any of this from happening. And his resistance caused them more trouble they could not afford. But even as shame burned his cheeks, still he could barely contain the terror that issued from him unbidden in the guise of angry petulance. It was freezing his blood and aching in the marrow of his bones! Before he and Suzume could tear into each other, they jolted apart cagily regarding Kuromi as she emerged from the reeds still holding up her hands to prove them empty.

"Kohaku-san is right, Suzume-san. I'll stick out in armor. Is this better?"

It took Haku a second to see her as she addressed him with a polite bow, keeping her glittering red eyes lowered demurely. The spider was now wearing a kimono of thin vertical stripes kilted high to show her pale bare feet and narrow ankles. It tied around her waist in a gold and black checked obi knotted with wide ornamental bow. Her collar was pulled low in the back showing of the red and yellow overlapping lapels beneath. And her long raven hair was piled onto her head in the wide curving slopes and wings lacquered with shining oil in the old style.

"Yes," he breathed after a long moment.

For some baffling reason her politeness enraged him so. Shrinking from her half afraid of what else he might do, Haku turned away only to come up short as Okesa helped Sen extricate herself from the muddy shallows. Haku's mouth fell open as she struggled to wipe the thick clay from her face. He could barely see the garments he had so carefully washed last night for all the thick muck that had soaked her through. It was even in her mouth, as evidenced by her gritty grimace. She spat and shook her hands, flicking off thick pats of mud she fixed him with the unwavering stare of her iron gaze. All the air seemed to leave his body as penitence robbed him of speech. He worked his mouth uselessly like a drowning fish before a thin apology issued from his lips in a bare whisper.

"Forgive me, dear one!"

Ignoring him, Sen irritably yanked off her mask and hair kerchief, clutching them to her chest as she placed her thumb in her mouth only to bend and blow with all her might. Okesa hissed and yowled, fleeing up the bank as mud and water filled the air.

"Child!" Suzume snarled furiously as he fled her storm, "I _abhor_ being wet!"

Stunned, Haku flinched behind up-thrown hands from the violently whipping water laden wind that issued out of her. The force of the squall nearly knocked him over as he had her and several pats of mud spattered across his dented breastplate. The bells on the arrow in the quiver at her back jingled loudly making his skin sing with the cold prickles of the magic that issues out of her. As quickly as it came the gale passed leaving him cold with shock.

He had seen her bend fire effortlessly.

He had seen her struggled to command water.

But never had he seen her sway the air!

Still staring at her around his fingers he saw she was not entirely clean but at least dry. Swaths of parched brown painted her face, hair, and clothes as she ducked her head back into her head cloth, hooking her mask high on her forehead. Unfortunately her armor had not survived the boiler fire and she was left wearing the oddly patched and embroidered indigo jacket, pants, leg wrappings, and sandals that proved themselves strangely fireproof. At her waist the sapphire eyes of Sengen's blade glared at him, winking in the shifting light. Haku squirmed as the frozen gem he was forced to wear around his neck began to burn with cold as if in response.

As he continued to stare she frowned. Then a smirk tugged her lips. It melted her eyes bringing a touch of pink to her cheeks. And his heart squeezed in his chest at the transformation. In it he caught a glimpse of Chihiro's ghost. His quickening pulse spread heat across his cheeks as he remembered how she had emerged in force earlier, inciting several more lustful trysts after the cat had finally left them alone. Oh, how she moved him even now! Closing the gap between them Sen reached out to pick a clod of mud out of his hair. Haku bent his head for her, leaning close as the unusual heat of her body rolled off in waves he could feel through all his armor. Instantly the strange magnetism that pulled him towards her always had him in its grip. But as he stepped closer for what he did not know she placed a gloved hand on his breastplate and brought him to stillness. Disappointment sang in his heart. But the iron was back in her eyes and it cooled his hot blood. Again he struggled with himself because this was neither the time nor the place.

"Where to now?"

As she looked up at him expectantly Haku's grazed his eyes over the black tiles of the looking hipped roves that lifted above the trees. As if the streets below were on fire light poured up into the sky as shifting fantastic shadows writhed and twisted on the flaking plaster walls.

"The Laughing Moon Tea House."

The building was three stories tall. It stood at the cross-roads of the two main boulevards cutting their through the stacks of rack-shamble tenements. Nowhere in Clock Tower Town would they be afforded such view of all the comings and goings of the denizens below. Here and on high they would wait for the spiders.

Easily they would see them coming.

The spiders, however, would not.


	34. Chapter 34

**HAKU**

"Please follow."

Pulling on his dragon mask Haku bobbed a brief bow toward the fox.

"Once in town permit me to speak for us, Suzume-san."

"I care not what you do, dragon! Lead on!"

The fox snorted in distraction waving him off with a burned hand before going back to studying the distant skyline. If it was possible the God went even paler as his gold eyes widened until Haku could see the whites. The fox absently gathered a handful of Sen's sleeve making her glance at him sharply. She frowned in confusion that quickly cleared. Then she hid her face behind the merry gold-red visage of her phoenix face. Glancing at Okesa that cat nodded at him as her red eyes contracted to slits. Turning now to Kuromi Haku found the spider already watching him with a cryptic expression that set his insides crawling. Putting his back to the beach and the spider he ghosted through the silently parting trees until a wall of light lifted ahead of him. As he went his heart beat faster and faster until it was knocking angrily against the inside of his chest making the narrow cage of his ribs far too small to accommodate it.

His last visit to this place had been disastrous. Though he returned under different circumstances the oni collar's ghost weighed on his neck.

A cold sweat broke out all over his body as Haku caught sight of the flaking plaster archway bearing a plate that offered the name of the east entrance to Clock Tower Town. Below it seated on a battered bamboo bench a red oni wearing a filthy loin-cloth lounged picking his nose while absently drawing stick figures in the dirt with the blunt point of his uninspiring spear. The top of his hear was far too narrow for the bottom, which made his large blood-shot eyes seem far too close together. Haku was upon him before the fool even noticed and Haku was forced to clear his throat politely as he was forced to wait.

Scrambling upright with a very unogerish squeak, the oni bared his rotting green teeth.

"Who goes, eh!"

He blinked at them with near-sighted confusion as if astonished to see anyone at all.

"Travelers," Haku replied smooth as silk, "We seek the Laughing Moon Tea House."

"Laughing Moon, eh? _Har, har, har!_ "

The oni chortled lewdly before pointing with his spear.

"Down t'street right in t'middle o' t'mess. Can't miss it."

Haku bowed with graceful formality.

"You have our thanks, gate-keeper."

The oni blinked rapidly scooting back to a rude seat on his bench as if not sure what to make of his politeness. Scratching his crotch the ogre waved them by before going back to digging in his enormous flaring nostrils.

"Jus' don' cause no trouble, hear me? Away wit' yeh!"

As they passed under the low hanging arch Haku the found the dusk streets of Clock Tower Town in full riot with Gods. Apprehensively he touched the edge of his dragon face, adjusting it cautiously. Okesa, however, wore her bare face openly. Her dilated eyes were perfectly round as they drunk in every inch of the surroundings. Creeping up to his side the cat claimed his arm, pulling him off kilter. As he stumbled Haku was forced to side-step lithely to avoid another red oni. This one was much more ill-tempered than his brother.

"Watch it, pip-squeak!" The God grated between its yellow teeth menacingly.

"A-apologies!" Haku choked.

Drawing back with an automatic bow he threw up a hand to stop his companions to make way. Seki-no-Taro had not hedged his words when he said his children caused mischief. Oni of every size and color lumbered beneath the garish red lanterns floating in haphazard constellations from every porch overhang and dripping like dew from lines festooning the streets in unending swags. Distracted once more, Haku followed their booming wine laced boasts echoed from every window and floor of the rack and shamble tea houses that slouched along the narrow street. Delicious smells of spice and savor fled the buildings in curling plumes of multicolored smoke as music twanged and chimed in punctuated bursts. His stomach loosed a plaintive growl in response reminding him of how long it had been since last he had eaten a real meal.

He was pauper no more, regardless of the price. Clenching his right fist he tried not to think about the blot of black staining his finger. If he survived then he would worry. Until then he intended to make good use of Yubaba's gold. The Laughing Moon would feed his companions well tonight.

As he led his friends down the wide avenue laughter and screams echoed from near and far, bouncing off the walls and roves of the close leaning structures in disorienting punches as the distant black sky frosted over with a haze of reflective smoke. But not even the thick tall shadows could hide the changes in this place. Things were dirtier; he had to watch his step lest he step in something unsavory. There were more pests; mushi clambered beneath buildings in glowing infestations only to be harried by chipped pieces of pottery and old sandals that scuttled about looking for a meal. There were fewer shops; already he could see the end of town. A black wall of nothing brought the carnival to an abrupt end in less than ten blocks. But within those blocks it was business as usual.

It was as if nothing had happened.

It was like Yubaba's Bath House was still to be found across the water.

Or perhaps it was as if it had never existed in the first place?

Disquiet set his teeth on edge behind his mask as he stared about in mounting consternation. Where once he held a name for every face the Gods here were strangers. Unfamiliar frog wives in bad wigs bustled by in a croaking horde carrying baskets of forlorn giant snails. They croaked and ribbitted loudly filling the street with the echoes of their gossip.

"Didja see the smoke on the bath house chimney earlier?"

"Whatsit mean?"

"Who cares! That place is full of ghosts!"

"I miss the bath house," one sighed wistfully, "I miss all that lovely hot water."

"What? Too fat to fit in your own tub?"

As they chortled the fog wives parted for skinny pair of brown badgers in happi bearing a palanquin. Haku blinked, momentarily entranced by the singing humming song of whatever was inside. It emitted the same eerie blue glow of all godfire painting the paper exterior with fantastic twisting shadows. A giant reed-thin ogre lurched by like a living ladder, extended it long arm to hold the tiny, tiny hand of its squat companion. The second oni looked as if it had been sat upon it was squished into such a perfect cylinder it was required to waddle ponderously. As the two trundled by Haku stopped dead in his tracks rudely listening to their conversation.

"Did you hear about the train?"

The little one squeaked like a mouse.

"What train?"

The tall one's voice filtered down from above.

"The one full of spiders! I hear they're pretty too! Apparently they came in from Shitamachi!"

The tall oni scoffed at that, ushering his companion along with his long, long arms.

"We don't want nothin' from Shitamachi."

Here something swooped across the street above cackling manically. Startled, Haku stumbled sideways only to come up short in front of the Laughing Moon's gate. Round as its namesake the door was a perfect circle of black lacquered wood. Set into its face the gate's fitting were fashioned into the Chinese characters for happiness. With the two side of the gate it became double happiness. The moon gate was set into a wide yellow wall encircling the narrow bar of the courtyard within. Over the gleaming green-black tiles of the lintel gate he could see the building beyond. It lifted in the Chinese style, three stores of sweeping upturned gables that climbed stacked buttresses beneath. More moon holes perforated the gaudy ornately carved wicker lattices of the verandas above letting the shrill laughter within issue out into the streets. The whole house seemed to glow, emitting the pale light of its namesake.

On the third story he found the balcony of the room he wanted. They were in luck as the windows of the top floor were dark.

Looking down Haku blinked in surprise at Okesa as the cat pressed into the small of his back. Bobbing and ducking her head swiveling and flattening her black velvet ears, the cat hid in his shadow glancing around his body as the passing traffic. Glancing up he found Sen and Suzume standing on the curb gawking openly. Nervously loitering behind them Kuromi stood at Sen's shoulder looking like she desired nothing more than to counsel the pair to be more discrete. But the spider was far too polite. He, however, did not miss her venomous glare whenever a curious God began to look too long. Oblivious, Sen and Suzume continued to gape like the tourists Jae laughingly pointed out Tokyo.

He had not thought about the humans he had left behind in a long time. His heart threw itself against the inside of his ribs as a stab of pain spread through his chest. Suddenly Haku's legs went weak with memories. How he missed Jae's filthy speech and constant grousing. How he missed Kenka's sweet smile and easy laugh. He even missed Megumi's icy glare and exasperated sighs. He missed his friends. He missed his house. More than anything he just wanted to go home! But he could not. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. And that was more terrible than any host of spiders or flood of gaki.

Clutching his curse stained hand into a fist he shoved the thoughts of home away. Anxious to get them off the street Haku rapped on the gate loudly using the heavy brass knocker shaped like a crescent. He need not wait long. The inner circle of the left character popped inward revealing a spy-hole. Within a white cat with brilliant green eyes peered through. The young God was dressed in teal satin Chinese robes embroidered round the collars with the phases of the moon. His perfectly pale hair was pulled straight back into a tight plait that disappeared down his back. Haku did not know him. All the same, the tom's velvet ears swiveled curiously as he looked Haku up and down only to sniff as if disappointed. Although his interest peaked as he studied furtively the white visage of his dragon mask. Every hair on Cinna's body stood on end as the tom's scrutiny turned on her. She hissed, folding her ears and darting to hide. The tom snorted as open disdain bled through his carefully composed affability. He smiled like a false moon and purred the word dubiously.

"Reservations?"

The haughty expression knocked off the cat's smug face as Haku held up a slim ingot of gold. The tom's eyes dilated into flashing mirrors as he gaped at the glittering yellow metal. In cold commanding tones Haku named his terms.

"We desire the private room on the third floor facing the street."

Haku withheld the gold as the tom reached for it greedily. He was not that stupid. He had played this game for many years at Yubaba's Bath House.

"We will pay at the end of our stay. Serve us well and another will be in store for your mistress."

Whereas he could not be bothered before, the white cat gave him his eager attention.

"Yes of course, master! I'll send our best girls to attend you!"

Heat flooded Haku's face as he forced his reply.

"Thank you, but no girls need be sent."

The tom chuckled and leaned close to wink at him before whispering behind his hand.

"Not to worry, master. I'll be happy to send our _boys_ instead."

Choking on mortification Haku refused again. The Laughing Moon had always been a sordid establishment. But he had not realized how far it had fallen!

"You misunderstand me, sir. No attendants need be sent. We will serve ourselves."

The tom pouted sullenly, flirting openly now as he looked him up and down again.

"You are missing out, master. Our attendants are quite special, especially me."

Before Haku could speak his impatience the other half of the gate popped open only to rolling inward. Inside was a strange stark moonscape a craggy rock garden of pitted pumice split by a babbling stream cut across the long thin courtyard within. In sharp contrast to the other black rocks a wide flat stone of perfectly white marble traversed the deep rut of the running water. A wide vein of gleaming silver undulated across its surface like a trapped fork of lightning. Another round door floated ahead of them open without doors as lunar beams of light radiated outward through the tall translucent paper panels without framework or paint. The screens were a perfect host for the shadow play of what was happening within and fantastic shadows flitted and flickered across their luminous faces in overlapping shades of inky black.

"Welcome masters and mistresses! Welcome to the Laughing Moon Tea House!"

The white cat minced sideways gesturing expansively, beckoning with long trailing sleeve toward the building's interior as they passed through the round arch into the restaurant's interior. The Laughing Moon was constructed in a hexagon and all around the exterior six sided recessed sitting areas walled off by dark wicker lattices busy with ornament. Through the round archways Godly guests lounged in squat black lacquered chairs around large geometric tables attended by constantly laughing servants in black bell sleeved silk jackets embroidered with ever changing moons. Lanterns hovered overhead like heavenly bodies spilling moonbeams across mounds of fried rice and equally enormous fried fish. Delicious smells rolled from the kitchen and from the steaming platters larger than the harried servants who carried them. But winding through the rafters was an incense haze that seemed to fill the entire interior, staining the ceiling and the paper screen tops a thick brown.

At the back of the restaurant the building continued into a huge banquet room.

It had been dressed and appointed as if in anticipation of a feast.

But the chairs and tables yet remained empty and servants scurried to last minute preparations.

Although a wide black stair circled the edge of the open atrium at the restaurant's center, it also offered a black iron cage elevator operated by a crank system manned by two bored looking oni who looked ridiculously out of place in their long black satin moon coats. God woman in teal robes seated on plum cushions wearing their hair in exotic fashions twanged biwa as glasses clinked and voices conversed. Above them all droning from all directions was a constant laughter both male and female; but neither the mirth nor the music could hide entirely the other licentious sounds that floated down from the second and third stories. Haku's face burned with shock. He had been too well acquainted with the lustful sounds earlier in the day to overlook them. Moving with stilted steps Haku kept his eyes firmly fixed to the floor as behind his mask his face went incandescent with heat.

Then Okesa tugged on his arm. The black cat whispered so loudly everyone surely could hear.

"Neh, kitten? Why'd yah bring us t'ah _brothel_ , neh?"

* * *

 **SEN**

Following a few steps behind Sen blinked as the pretty young God grabbed Haku's arm. The white cat hung on him heavily the way Cinna did. Sen barely restrained a giggle as Kohaku jolted bolt upright. Much to her amusement she had discovered Kohaku was a bit of a prude. All the more fun to tease him. She was surprised he hadn't burst into flames.

" _Neh!_ That bitch's gittin' too _friendly_ wit' kitten fer my likin', neh!"

Cinna uttered a low growl hunching as she bristled from the top of her head to the tip of her tail. She wiggled her extended claws as swished her tail. Suzume choked beneath his breath as he jerked his head away from writhing shadows. Covering the sides of his face the fox stared straight ahead as me muttered at her angrily.

"Speak nothing of this to my wife and I will not _kill_ the dragon for bringing me here unawares!"

Sen snorted, ignoring the empty threat. At first she was a little annoyed Kohaku hadn't mentioned where they were going. Weren't there regular restaurants in this town? She remembered dozens of them from when she was a little girl. But judging from the way he was staring straight at the ground nodding woodenly without any interest as the tom cat yammered on in his ear about the amenities of each room they passed, Haku hadn't know either exactly what kind of tea house this was.

From the large black and white octagon atrium on the first floor they had taken a cage elevator very similar to Aburaya's up to the third. But the similarities stopped there. Aburaya was just as beautiful if not more beautiful inside. And Yubaba was perfectly honest about fact that she was out to make money. All the same, she ran a clean shop; no doubt because there were places like this in town. The Laughing Moon was anything but honest. It's exterior was grand and exotic but once inside the lie revealed itself. The lights were low to hide the shabby state of the surroundings. Everything was made of black laquer or wicker to hide the wear and the cigarette stains. The constant laughter sounded forced. And under the stale perfume and the reek of old tobacco Sen could smell the undeniably hint of despair. Kuromi seemed to sense it too. The spider was terribly quiet. Glancing back, Sen realized she was wringing her hands. All of them. It was seriously unnerving to watch.

"Um… Y-you okay?" Sen murmured.

Kuromi hesitated, but the spider couldn't lie.

"My sister grew up in a place like this."

Sen blinked in astonishment, whispering beneath her breath.

"Is she still there?"

Kuromi was so very, very sad as she forced herself to answer.

"No. She's dead."

Sen flinched as her blood went cold. And a familiar black shadow hung over her making the bell in her heart hum. Death was everywhere. There was no one it hadn't touched. Here Cinna jolted ahead of her extending her claws.

"That's it! Aye'm gonna tear t'face off tha' _grabby grabberton!_ "

Sen scrambled to catch her, but the fox already had her by the scruff. Dragging her back beside them, Suzume scolded her in sharp irritation.

"Behave yourself, cat! The dragon can fend for himself!"

"Lemmie down, y' _stupid_ _doggie_!"

He ignored her as she hissed and clawed his hands. Then Cinna spat in his face. Suzume dropped her unceremoniously. Wiping his face on his sleeve, he swept by leaving her sprawled on the floor. As the cat flicked him off behind his back Kuromi knelt beside Cinna shyly offering to help her up. Unfortunately more and more hands unfolded generously and the cat took one look at them only to slam against the opposite wall still scrambling as if trying to push herself through the wood.

" _Don' touch me y'filthy spider!"_

Cinna spat again, bristling and flattening her ears. She clawed herself upright only to sprint by. Sen watched the cat go with a sinking sensation. Kohaku wasn't the only one who hated spiders. In a way she couldn't blame the cat. She'd seen the bite scars on Cinna's neck. They'd ruined her voice making her sound like she had a perpetual cold.

Kuromi straightened still bowing her head. Waiting beside her in awkward silence, Sen looked back down the long faceless hall and saw that Kohaku had extricated himself from the tom cat's enthusiastic embrace only to almost fall over as Cinna launched herself into his back. Haku recovered quickly as if used to this, hoisting her up onto his shoulders the way you might a little kid. The tom's flicking tail bristled and his ears flattened as Cinna stuck her tongue out at him. Barely hiding his distaste for the black cat the tom opened a door with another grand gesture. Bright pastel lights hummed on beyond the wall of paper extending to her right and as more moonbeams spilled out into the hall from inside. Bowing in sweeping motions the tom ushered Kohaku, Cinna, and Suzume inside.

Sen hurried to follow not wanting to leave them alone for too long. Thankfully Kuromi followed in her shadow. She came up short just inside as the tom closed the door behind her. Skirting the edge of the room she found it smaller than she expected. No tatami here. Like the rest of the building the naked board floor was painted a wet black she half expected to be sticky. They dropped into a recessed sitting area that housed several spindly black lacquered chairs and a rickety octagon shaped table. The rest of the room was pretty much one big wide low bed drowning in an obscene number of cushions. It stretched the entire perimeter of the thin paper walls so its occupants could offer a show to anyone who might pass by. The cushions and comforters were a hideous pink. The cheerily flickering tasseled lanterns and gilded mirrors set into the coffered ceiling above were done up in cherry blossoms that were pink. Even the paper sliders leading to the street side balcony were pink, pink, pink!

Sen found herself frowning sourly until Haku asked about the kitchen.

At once her knees were weak with hunger.

She needed really, really needed real food, not just rice and soup.

Luckily the tom cat was happy to oblige, bowing again.

"Not to worry, master! I will have our cook prepare the finest dishes!"

Tilting his head from side to side coyly making the bells in his braid tinkle, the tom sidled up to him again. The white cat wound the end of his braid through the tips of his long slender fingers. His green eyes flirted shamelessly making Sen want to laugh outright, because the God was obviously smitten. Although she wasn't sure if the tom cat was smitten with Kohaku's manners or if he was smitten with the fat lump of gold he had flashed earlier.

"I would be happy to look after you myself should you wish it?"

Trying so very hard to be polite, Kohaku retreated, bowed, and refused yet again.

"You are very, very kind, sir. Too kind. I assure you we will be fine."

Again the young God pouted, swishing his tail beneath the deep hem of his long teal coat. He sashayed out before hesitating hopefully while hanging on the door.

"Well… If you are sure, master. But there's always time to change your mind."

"You have my thanks."

Haku produced another hasty bow, much to the cat's delight and he half forced the door closed on the God. Leaning on it heavily he ripped off his mask revealing he was red faced and sweating with embarrassed consternation. He glared at Cinna as the cat began mimicking the grand gestures of the tom taunting him openly perfectly mimicking the same sweeping grand motions the tom had made as she danced about.

"Master an' tom cat sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Enough, Okesa!" Haku snapped impatiently, locking the door and checking the latch.

The cat, however, continued to dance humming the mocking tune.

" _Dragon!_ Why in the seven hells have you brought us to this place!?"

Perched on the edge of the endless bed looking extremely uncomfortable, Suzume scrubbed his face with a gusty sigh as he struggled visibly to keep his temper. A severe expression washed across Kohaku's face as the fox confronted him. His feet barely touched the ground as he strode to the sliding doors at the balcony. Throw them wide open on the night sky Kohaku stepped out on the high vantage point. Suzume stood as wind invaded the room; washing out the thick stink of incense and making the lanterns gyrate. The fox accompanied her as Sen came forward to the edge of the balcony. Standing there she finally understood why they had come to the Laughing Moon.

The sounds of the God city filtered up from below.

From the balcony they could see all three entrances to Clock Tower Town.

She could even see the stained glass windows in the side of the station waiting room.

"It's a high blind." Kuromi murmured as she craned her slender neck to study the streets.

Kohaku nodded gravely. His whisper was almost lost in the sounds of the streets.

"Now we wait and watch."

Pushing her phoenix mask Sen sank to a seat on the nearest edge of the couch frowning as she watched Kohaku cling to the rail hanging out into the thin air much too far for her comfort. He was breathing deep slow breaths the way people did when they were trying to come down off a panic attack. He probably found the narrow press of the interior claustrophobic. Shrinking from the balcony as if he was afraid of heights, Suzume retreated into the sunken sitting area forcing Cinna to slink out onto the balcony beside Kohaku. The cat squatted beside him staring down at the streets craning her neck and swiveling her ears with interest. As she absently flicked her tail from side to side Suzume began to pace around the table clenching and unclenching his charcoal hands as he studied the surrounding with a dour expression.

"I do not like this place, dragon!" Suzume growled.

Without turning Kohaku answered coldly from the balcony.

"You could have remained at Aburaya with Tomoe, fox."

As Suzume sputtered Kuromi snorted in amusement from where she pressed against the wall.

"Who is oldest?" She asked in all seriousness.

Sen blinked, spinning to face her because she'd almost forgotten she was there. The spider blended into the surroundings with such ease it was seriously freak. Suzume and Kohaku looked at her in sharp unison as confusion tightened their faces. Suzume snorted imperiously, talking to her like she was either crazy or stupid.

"Spider! You make no sense!"

A wan smile stretched Kuromi's pretty face making her age.

"You fight like siblings."

Sen blinked and blinked some more, not sure if she was joking. For some reason Suzume didn't have a hot reply. He was staring at her askance as if seriously bothered by what she'd said.

"What did you say!?"

She bowed to him the same way Kohaku always did, automatically as if she couldn't help it.

"I said you fight like brothers, Suzume-san."

Crouching at Haku's ankles the cat clung to his pant leg and hissed at her.

"An' wot woul' yeh know 'bout _family_ , y'stupid spider!"

Again Kuromi flashed the same sad smile as before. The hairs on Sen's arms prickled as her bell in her heart hummed over what she said next.

"I know enough to see when it's real."

Here Kuromi's eyes sharpened with interest. She pointed with more than one hand at the cat's waist making Cinna flinch.

"Do you know where those fans come from?"

Cinna dropped her other hand to the black sash that wound round her tiny waist to touch one of the hafts of the four fans tucked tightly into the fabric. Three were red, gold, and silver. One was black, black, black! Fixing Kuromi with a challenging glare her pupils dilated to slits as she lashed her tail.

"They belonged t'yer _mommy_ 'fore she turned in t'ah great big _murderous_ bitch!"

Kuromi's red eyes turned dangerous.

"Shurui is not my mother. And the fans aren't hers either."

Slowly, so slowly you couldn't tell, she leaned away from the wall. Carefully weaving each word, she sharpened their edges with cruelty until they cut.

"Shurui stole them. Just like you stole them from Shurui."

The cat jerked bolt upright. Every hair on her body stood on end as she stared pale and blanked faced with astonishment. Kohaku flinched sideways as she knocked into him, wheeling against the rail to looking between Cinna and the spider in shocked confusion. Sen had no idea what they were talking about. The cat did. So did Kohaku judging from the look on his face. But in a blink the cat produced twin knives from the small of her back. Sen shrank in horror as Cinna transformed beneath the strength of her hate, becoming something else entirely, something dark and terrible that Sen recognized immediately. Seeing the ghost of the Forgotten in the usually goofy cat turned Sen's blood to ice. All the warmth fled the room making the burn on her thigh ache and sting. Her shaking breath blew from her lips in a cloud of white as Suzume stood with an angry bark.

"Calm yourself, cat!"

He might as well have told fire not to be hot! Cinna didn't hear him. Murder was burning in her bloody, bloody eyes. Kohaku caught her, hauling her back against his chest as she lunged. The cat dragged him forward even as he tightened his grip. Kuromi flew back against the wall making it jolt as Sen was on her feet. Her bow and belled arrow were in her hands. She didn't remember grabbing them. But she didn't need them after all.

" _Stop, imoto!"_

The cat froze in his grip as Kohaku called her little sister. After a heartbeat the rage within her fled. She dropped her knives and sagged, weighing on him heavily as wearing a sick expression of grief. She scrambled to kick the blades away, staring at them madly as if they scared her stupid. Darting by so fast Sen flinched Suzume picked up the knives and deposited them on the table. Raking his sober gold eyes over her as if making sure she was alright, he turned his back on them to hide the stricken expression tightening his pale features as the cat shook miserably. Not that anyone could hear it over the angry wind that went tearing through the room. He stared sideways at the spider with a tight blank expression Kohaku before tossing his head at the window.

"Go!"

Sen didn't hear the words but she saw his lips move. Kuromi must've seen them too because immediately she bowed. Popping the large moon window behind her she climbed the frame with her bare hands. She stuck to the surface like Toby Maguire! Slipping out, she shut the window. Then she climbed up onto the roof and out of sight. And Sen sank back onto the edge of the couch frozen doubt as the wind circled and circled the room, chapping her skin and making her eyes sting.

Kuromi had proven herself extremely useful in Ueno Park and just recently on the river.

She'd promised to look after Kohaku.

But what good was the promise if they were constantly at each other's throats?

Had she made a huge mistake in bringing the spider?

She wasn't sure. And not knowing was just as bad as knowing.


	35. Chapter 35

**HAKU**

On the couch beside him Okesa was curled into a tight ball snoring loudly.

She had gorged herself to the point of being sick.

Then she passed out.

The cat had made a pillow out of his thigh in spite of the sharp lames laced to the cuisse.

As she snuggled his sick heart squeezed in his chest.

He smoothed the rabbit soft velvet of her black ears only to find grains of rice in her hair.

Haku found himself staring morosely at the knives on the table beside the feast's remains. The tom had brought an obscene amount of food. Mounds of fried rice remained ringed with a scattering of red stained rounds of barbequed pork. Haku's belly was full but he had not tasted the meal. Indeed, they had eaten in strained silence that robbed his senses of taste and smell. The silence hung over them yet like a black cloud.

Still showing them his back Suzume sat cross legged on the floor just inside from the balcony. He did not so much as more. Like a white marble Buddha, his gold eyes studied the streets below as false laughter echoed from below. Haku glanced to his other side as Sen fidgeted endlessly. With her back braced on the black wainscoting beneath the paper walls Sen sat fiddling idly with the scale around her neck. She tugged on it insistently, making the purple cord gifted to her by Zeniba creak as his scale glittered and flashed. All the while her pale eyes starred at nothing, perfectly round and deeply troubled. They betrayed all her fears; as did the tight worry lining her face with age beyond her years.

Her face could have been a mirror for his.

Waiting, it seemed, was taking a toll on them all.

Here, and not for the first time, her eyes dropped to the food. Then they lifted to the roof. Then back to the food. Then back to the roof. She chewed her lip viciously, tugging on the cord with renewed vigor. There was blood on her teeth and his insides twisted at the sight of it. After everything that had happened she still wanted to feed the spider! And Haku both loved and begrudged her the generousness of her spirit. It shamed him, making him shrink from the hatred in his heart that threatened to make him a liar.

But Kuromi was no monster.

She had defied Shurui and tried to help Lin.

That alone put him deeply in her debt.

Sighing gustily, he carefully scooted a cushion under Okesa's cheek and stood stiffly. The cat rolled over onto it purring loudly and kneading the couch with her claws as he smoothed her fur. He could feel Sen's eyes on his back as he went to the table and prepared a generous serving. Shaking out his umbrella with on hand he cupped the bowl of rice in his other. But as he passed the fox to step out onto the breezy balcony the God spoke low with great caution.

"Be careful of your kindness, dragon. Lest it get you killed."

Haku glanced at him sharply.

The fox's hawk eyes never left the streets below.

Annoyed by the God's ominous pronouncement, Haku lifted the umbrella over his head and it filled with a gust that lifted him off the boards. Weightlessness threw his stomach into his throat even though it was a quick flight. He drifted up over the edge of the roof onto the wide gentle slope of the black tiles. They gleamed like wet tar in the all-seeing-eye of the looming clock tower's spire. Thick haze issued from the rounded edges of the top gable's grates turned red in the winking crimson flame that flickered at its top. The coils of smoke stirred and danced in snaking curls as his wind gusted by. Straddling the bridge of the roof's cross beam wearing the gleaming casing of her beetle black armor except for her helmet and chest plates. These rested on the tiles at her feet. Her long hair was tightly plaited and knotted atop the crown of her head. Dressed from the waist up in a jerkin of study rough spun black silk Kuromi paused where she bent over something.

Her back was to him but she knew he was there. Casting about for a safe place to put it Haku's insides scrambled in exasperation as he found none. None save for the flat cap tiles on which the spider perched. Loitering there for a long moment out of sheer petulance he flitted across the tiles on a burst of wind. Haku slammed the bowl down only to launch up into the sky. As he floated down pointing his toes for the lip of the roof Kuromi sighed gustily sounding just as exasperated.

"Why do you keep feeding me if you hate me so much?"

Irritation set a punch of wind up into the tines making him miss his mark. Even more peevish now he landed on the tiles hastily folding his umbrella. Angry wind circled the roof making the smoke drag across the tiles like running water. He did not want to talk to the spider. But he did not want her to have the last word either.

"I do not hate you! I dislike you greatly, but not enough to let you starve!"

Haku spat back ungraciously. Again she sighed, going back to polishing what she had wedged into the roof.

"I don't believe you" she returned sullenly, "Humans can lie."

Suddenly curious, Haku crept closer irritably muttering truth without thinking.

"I am mortal but not human nor am I a liar!"

She sat back, revealing a molded piece of hard casing. It was made of the same stuff as her armor save it was white as spider silk. Confused and intrigued he craned his neck to study the thing.

"W-what are you doing?"

Kuromi lifted it to the full swells of her chest as if measure it to make sure it would fit. Haku jolted as he realized it followed the contours of a woman's breasts perfectly. Heat flooded his cheeks as he threw his eyes away just as the spider explained.

"I'm making Sen new armor."

Setting aside the breastplate she spit in her cupped palms only to spread them wide. A thin membrane of humming white silk stretched between them. Onto this she spat again and again, molding and shaping the surface into a rough shape. Hoisting it over her head with her many hands she positioned it on her back and then pulled with all her might, straining and struggling. Instantly it conformed to her shape, becoming a back plate before his very eyes. Yielding, letting loose the breath she was holding, Kuromi peeled it off her back and inspected its curves. She rapped on it over and over with her knuckles listening for something he could not begin to fathom.

"I can hear the weak spots."

She explained shortly before spitting on a spot and knocking again. Finally satisfied, she burnishing it with her hands until it was hard and glistening. As he looked on in astonishment at her industry, the spider produced two pauldrons in seconds. With the pieces of the chest plate cradled in her lap she crafted a small auger bit from thin air beneath the fluttering flitting white of her agile fingers. She set it down on the tiles only to spit on it. This time the silk hissed and simmered, turning black and smooth as obsidian as gouts of acrid smelling smoke plumed into the air. Haku jerked away in surprise as the smell turned his stomach, backpedaling with a gag as again the unaffected spider explained.

"Venom hardens the silk but doesn't make it brittle like heat does."

Caught up in her work, Kuromi quickly bore holes in the join points of the pieces only to lay them out on the cross beam tiles and spit on them over and over. Disgusted, Haku recoiled as she disappeared into the thick cloud of hissing angry black smoke. They dissipated in the sharp winds the sight inspired from him. Sidling close he found they had turned black as obsidian. Snatching them up, Kuromi laced them together with thick sturdy cord she plaited from nowhere. Bent with single-minded concentration, she inspected the newly forged chest plate, turning it over and over testing the articulations and knocking, knocking, knocking with her thin agile fingers.

Then she laid it over the crossbeam and stood so swiftly he barely had time to react.

At once the spider had an ax of silk in her hands which she smashed down on her work.

Again he caught air as the jolt of the impact tossed him off the tiles.

Unconsciously his hand went to Haonane, but the spider could not care less.

She plopped back down on the roof inspecting her work.

Glancing at the cross beam he saw the green black ceramic tiles beneath had shattered.

Astonished all over again, Haku saw that the hardened black silk had not so much as cracked.

"We call it steal silk. It's very, very strong. Impervious to venom too."

Holding it out for him to see, Kuromi beamed at him as her face lit up with happiness. The expression so transformed her Haku did not know what to do or say. Half of him was utterly repulsed and wanted to hurl the thing over the edge of the room. The other half of him saw something that would keep Sen from harm, which made it priceless. Grinding his teeth against insulting words, Haku recoiled as she reached out one of her lithe arms and knocked her tiny knuckles on his breastplate. As he danced out his horrors she pulled a sour moue.

"While I'm at it can I fix yours?"

So stunned has he by her offer Haku worked his mouth for a moment before he could answer.

"W-what!?"

She pointed with all her hands making his jerk back several more steps.

"Your chest plate is weak in several places."

At once he was pointed at her rice bowl angrily shouting a hoarse command.

"Eat! Before it grows cold!"

She crossed her arms then crossed some more making his skin shiver and crawl in horror.

"One more good hit and it'll shatter. I'll test it for you if you like."

Here she hefted her ax onto her knee all the while regarding him mildly. The sureness in her voice set his blood cold even as it boiled. Seeing her skill, how could he refuse? Especially with the army of spiders that were about to come knocking on their door. Grudgingly tucking his mask and umbrella away into the hidden folds of his tatter cloak Haku tugged loose his gorget, letting is hang as he pull out the ties at his side and dragged the heavy armor off over his head. Holding it out to her at arm's length he snatched back his hands as she accepted it and immediately began looking it over with the same appraising frown the tom had given him earlier.

"This is old. And human made too. Where'd you get it, an antique store?"

Haku seethed, trying not to insult her in return.

"It is very rude to speak ill of a gift."

His blood cooled as she glanced at him sharply bobbing her head in apology.

"Sorry."

She fidgeted awkwardly. Then another pair of her hands lifted to gesture expectantly. All while the rest pointed to each remaining piece of his kit.

"No offense, but hand over the rest of it. If it's as bad as the plate it'll need work too."

As he recoiled further and further adamantly shaking his head her eyes narrowed. Draping his plate over her knee she smashed it with a clenched fist. Haku jolted as it splintered like breaking glass proving her point. His chest went tight on a stab of fear he imagined what might have happened should it have shattered in battled. Holding it up, with glittering red eyes she stared at him pointedly through a cleft in the middle.

"I know armor, okay? And I promised I'd help you."

Glaring at the spider furiously, Haku adjusted the sword from his waist. Here he caught Kuromi studying it with rapt fascination. She point at it openly.

"That's a strange sword."

Strange that the girl could be both so polite and so rude at the same time! Haku bristled, but produce words in reply none-the-less.

"It belongs to my sister."

Kuromi blinked, eyes widening. Apparently that touched her somehow.

"Does she have a name?"

Haku nodded.

"Hanoane. It means sister's teeth."

Pink cheeked with excitement the spider reached timidly.

"Can I see her?"

Wind blasted across the rooftop making her tilt as it slapped against her face. Every free hand she had flew into the air signaling contrition.

"I'm just curious! I've never seen anything like it! You can hold my axe if you want?"

She cringed as the gale screamed, dropping her axe to wave all her hands in placation.

"Sorry! Sorry! I just don't see many God forged swords and she's really beautiful!"

Turning his back on her, he kept Hanoane and bent to yank the ties on his cuisses loose. They knocked around his knees and hung heavily as he picked out the tight knot of his hip belt. Leaving his sword belt in place he tossed the belt and its burden at the spider's feet. She picked them up and began her careful inspection, glancing at him shyly from time to time. Ignoring her, he angrily ripped at the ties around his neck he peeled off his arm guards and added them to the pile. Kneeling to unlace his shin guards he glanced at her as she inspected the rest of his gear critically muttering beneath her breath.

"These have been through the wringer, haven't they?"

She picked at something curiously only the recoil wrinkling her nose.

"Ugh! They stink like…!"

Here she froze, leaning away from the male as a looked of horror crawled across her face. Blood. His blood. Spider blood. Avoiding looking at her, he straightened and placed the last of his armor on top of the pile. Standing there wearing nothing but a battered padded indigo coat, trousers, and tabi Haku fretted uncomfortably as he felt completely naked beneath the black starless sky. Shivering beneath the whispering invisible press of his tatter cloak, he lifted his eyes to the sky in search of the real moon. It had not risen yet and the only light that reached him now was cast by the watchful eye of the clock tower and what managed to climb the walls of the buildings from the street. Casting his gaze over the undulating black roofs of the buildings, he stared through the dark to where Aburaya stood in hiding. Then silk hissed and acrid smoke billowed. Finally looking back at Kuromi he found her hard at work. Standing there uselessly, he found he disliked the uncomfortable silence more than her presence. Coming over to perch on the opposite end of the gable as far from her as possible, Haku forced himself to make conversation.

"You know a great deal of armaments."

She glanced at him nervously and nodded.

"It was my job in the caverns. I was raised for it."

He blinked, surprised by that because she was so very young to his eyes. Too young for war. But here she continued to surprise him.

"I like weaving a lot better."

He blinked again, unbalanced by the disparateness of the trades.

"Do you?"

Again she nodded, carefully picking out the lacings that secured his broken plate. Her many, many, hands were making short work of the usually arduous task.

"Yeah. I don't care what it is I just like making things. Does that surprise you?"

It did. But he did not want to admit that to her. So he revealed something else in return to save himself from the other truth.

"I enjoy cooking and cleaning. Especially sweeping."

She tossed the splintered plate. It whizzed through the air, skittering across the slopes tiles.

"Is that why you were cleaning the kitchen back there?"

Haku shivered again.

"It calms me."

He found himself watching her hands as she spat and stretched then spat and stretched some more. The economic parsimony of her movements was fascinating. She wasted no effort. Nor was she ever idle. In short moments she had a shining new front plate. Strangely he found himself admiring her industriousness until she held up her work with two hands before beckoning with the four others. As he hesitated they churned in the air impatiently.

"I need to fit it to you."

Still he refused, arguing instead.

"Should you not have fit Sen's armor in this manner?"

She circled several of her hands in a meaningless gesture.

"I know her size already. I made her some clothes once. Please?"

Forcing himself to stand, Haku cagily approached and stopped halfway across the roof tiles. Holding his breath and clenching his fists, he turned his face away as Kuromi stood and met him there. He shuddered as she held the plate to his chest frowning at it as she turned her head this was and that. While her other hands fussed and pulled at the edges to position it properly, she put a finger in her mouth and chewed. Automatically he reached out and pulled her hand from her mouth, swatting at another as it darted in to take its place. As he realized what he had done his face burned, especially as Kuromi stared at him in surprise. Throwing his gaze away he let loose the breath he was holding only to suck in another. Never did he think he would allow himself to be fitted for a chest plate made of spider silk. He could not bear the touch of the stuff. It reminded him far too much of the time he had spent trussed up dangling in the dark. He, however, had no time to go in search of a more suitable replacement. Haku would endure this as he did so many things.

"Um… I know this is awkward… But could you bring the wind down a notch?"

Peering at her sideways Haku realizes she was squinting against the stiff breeze. Again he let out the breath he was holding and the wind abated. He wilted in relief as she stepped back and nodded, satisfied with the fit of the plate. Burnishing it to a glossy finish with her diligent hands, she placed it on the tiles and began spitting in earnest only to be lost in a cloud of fizzling hissing black. Sprinting to the edge of the roof Haku clamped a hand over his mouth as his stomach heaved.

"You okay?" She called distantly.

Pointing at the rice bowl air he quarreled to save himself from admitting he was not well.

"Eat! That is after all why I dragged myself up on top of this forsaken roof! And for your information I have eaten a doughnut! They are delicious except the ones that spit!"

She paused in the middle of riveting the plate back into the harness with a hammer she had no doubt made herself. Then Kuromi laughed at him openly; denying what he had seen with his own eyes.

"Doughnuts don't spit, silly!"

Silly? _Silly!?_

Haku lifted on a furious wind, spinning on his heel and returning so he could tell otherwise.

"Indeed they do! If you squeeze they protest by extruding sugary substances that taste strangely of fruit and… and… I find them terribly untidy!"

She was laughing uproariously now; holding her stomach as her many hands slapped her knees. Cross and flustered, Haku plunked down on the cross beam and turned his back on her as she continued to laugh high and sweet like any other woman. When he finally worked up the nerve to look she had gone back to work with vigor, paying him no heed at all. He startled as she slung his newly mended cuirass across the spine of the roof. Had she not just begun? But her hands were a blur as she reinforced the thread-bare sections of his arm guards, producing ribbons of the study thick black silk hand over than even as her others fingers deftly stitched and plaited simultaneously. Dragging the coat of lacquered plates closer, he picked it up and inspected the inset panel of steal silk only to realize she had somehow worked the surface with a swirling curling pattern of interlocking spiraled clouds. He blinked, realizing she had replaced several of the cracked lames in his shoulder drapes with more narrow bars of blackened silk. He had not even seen her make these let alone rework the lacings!

At once he was awed and humbled by the work she had accomplished. A painful lump rose in his throat as he traced the swirling clouds with his finger. Haku struggled to swallow it as it brought an unwanted burn to his eyes. How was it that spiders could make such beautiful things? And yet all they seemed to do was kill and destroy.

"Do you like it?" Kuromi inquired shyly.

Haku startled as she crouched over her heels beside him. He nodded shakily, clearing his throat before he could speak.

"You do fine work."

She seemed more than pleased by that. Again her face lit up as a wide free smile that made her pale cheeks round as apples. Unfortunately it also revealed the rows of her sharp, sharp teeth. He found himself staring at them as his insides crawled, making him jerk as her many hands held out the rest of his armor.

"All done!" Kuromi announced pluckily.

As she stood back so he could dress she crept closer as her hands twitched anxiously.

"Can I help? Just to make sure everything fits?"

Overwhelmed by her enthusiasm he could not bring himself to say no. He had never been dressed simultaneously before. But that is what happened. Under the fleet of her busy hands his arm guards, chest plate, and hip belt came on all at once. Standing there stock still he held out his arms and tried not to move as she tugged, tucked, and tightened the lacings spinning him round and round to inspect it from all angles. Turning him to face her she nodded with a smirk of satisfaction and knocked twice on the front of the wind etched plate.

"Looks good! Feels good?"

Dizzy and bewildered, Haku found her enthusiasm catching and he flashed a sheepish smile.

"It is so much lighter."

She knocked on her leg plates planting hands on her hips and lifting her narrow chin proudly.

"Steal silk! I swear by the stuff."

Again he found a strange half smile tugging at his mouth. But as Kuromi handed him his gorget and absently fussed with the tension of the lacings at his right shoulder she froze. All the color drained out of her already pale face as the flock of her hands yanked away, hovering in the air perfectly still as the spider stared with round red eyes at something on his neck. Alarmed by her stricken expression, Haku lifted a hand to touch his throat only to brush the thick slick skin of a scar. As he did Haku realized in a flash of understand that she had seen it as well.

Sometimes he forgot the scars were there. How, he did Haku did not know. But they were still new and he spent very little time before mirrors. Her hands were shaking now and Kuromi balled them up into fists at her side. All except for one which hovered as if it wished to touch. Haku leaned away gritting his teeth not wanting her to touch. She finally dropped it beside the others. But she was still staring. And the intensity of her red gaze was making his skin crawl.

"Do they h-hurt?"

He could not lie to her. They ached even now. He swallowed again with difficulty and told the truth.

"Yes."

At once she retreated, clambering backwards away from him so quickly he was left reaching after her. She disappeared out of sight over the spine of the roof leaving him alone on the dark roof. For some strange reason he gave chase, following her to the other side where he found her huddled against the tiles hugging herself tightly. She rocked herself from side to side hissing miserably.

"I'm sorry about what we did! I'm sorry we took your sister! I'm sorry about your little brother! I'm sorry we bit you! I'm sorry about your house! _I'm so sorry and it doesn't change a damned thing, but I'm so very sorry!"_

Haku believed her even though she could not lie. There were tears in her red eyes. The light of the clock tower made them glisten brightly. She unbalanced him leaving Haku at a loss. She was not at all what he expected, this young spider. Hidden within the soldier; obscured even by the skilled craftsman; Haku found a sad lonely girl. He himself had in similar circumstances on the streets of Tokyo; alone, lost, and friendless. Had he not begged forgiveness at the feet of the Aburaya Gods for his transgressions as Kuromi now begged at his?

Haku _hated_ the sound of crying! It made him want to fly wild and break things just to drown it out! Hunkering down next to her he wracked his mind for something to do or say that might help. Helplessly he placed the bowl of rice in her hands. It was all he could think to do. The spider stared at it but did not eat. She did not cry either. Like a good soldier she marshaled through her sorrow. Lifting her chin she reached out and timidly knocked twice on the front of his chest plate.

"You're really nice, you know that?"

She whispered without looking at him.

"If I was human? Do you think we could be friends?"

Kuromi could not have struck him a firmer blow with a fist as she did now with words alone. Haku's insides seared with shame as she returned in hope to his false promise. He had lied after all, because there was no way she could ever be human. How could he bring himself to dash the only thing that brought renewed light to her eyes? But what he forgot everything as a horn sounded distantly. Flying to his feet, he turned to the sound listening with his entire body as his senses sang. The entire night seemed to come to stillness as it listened for the sound. Premonition hummed in every fiber of muscle and drop of blood. He vaulted over the spine of the roof as it sounded again. It was a deep brassy boom that heralded the coming of something great. Launching over the tiles he feet did not touch until he landed on the edge of the eave. Perched there he found the fox leaning out over the balcony rail ignoring the drop. Sen and Okesa had joined him. They were staring madly at the station gate as again the horns blared from inside.

Gods gathered around the front door peering in and pointing.

Haku startled as he found Kuromi perched next to him.

The apple cheeked girl was gone, lost in the skillful curves of intimidating black armor.

She gripped the edge of the roof with more and more hands as cymbals crashed distantly.

The throng of Gods shied, pulling back from the station door like a retreating wave to make way.

Then the high nasal drone of pipes followed, shrill and thrilling.

And a chill went rattling up his spine as the very ground seemed to vibrate with the sound.

Out of the archway marched rank after rank of spider soldiers in gleaming armor.

The sight of abundant black of bodies turned his blood to sharp shards of ice.

He could hear the metallic clash of their hulls and the thunder of their feet.

Their arms unfurled as they hoisted red banners bearing a black hourglass.

But they divided, lining the street to make a path for their sisters.

A brilliant host of elegantly dressed spiders paraded behind them in slowly stately steps.

Though it was quite bright, they carried flickering red lanterns.

They made the main street an undulating wave of red as they filled the avenue.

A phantasmagoric orchestra of strangely shaped silk steel horns emerged next.

The glistening instruments seemed to writhe like shadows in the night as the musicians twirled.

Dancers waved long throngs of multi-colored silk as percussionists clashed cymbals in time.

At their heel hidden by a thicket of tasseled crimson parasols Haku saw the spider queen.

There was no mistaking the mountainous lobes of her extravagant hair.

It bristled with scores of gold and silver combs so heavy it was a wonder her neck did not snap.

If only! Haku's eyes filled with red at the sight of Shurui.

He gripped the tiles until they cracked.

But just as quickly as his blood turned to fire in his veins it crystalized to ice.

He saw Kubi first. She plodded along like a docile broken mare.

Using her as a seeing-eye dog the bat had her on the end of a lead Haku recognized instantly.

His breath hissed between his clenched teeth at the sight of the oni collar.

Then the world disappeared as he caught sight of Lin.

All the air went with it as he stared struggling to breath.

She was a blot of yellow adrift in a flood of beetle black pandemonium at Shurui's back.

Shock lifted Haku up into the air as the tributary of spiders poured through the streets.

Until a sea of hands was lapping and rapping at the front gate of the Laughing Moon Tea House.

* * *

 **SEN**

Sen gripped the banister until her knuckles ached.

Because there she was; Lin was alive.

Even though she was right there Lin felt miles and miles away in the sea of spiders.

All the same, there she was.

Sen flinched glancing up sharply as the fox made a choking sound. He leaned on the rail as if he could reach out and pluck her up with his charcoal fingers. Like flickering wicks his gold eyes burned in his pale white face hollowed and twisted with rage and suffering. Sen fought to swallow the vice that squeezed painfully in her throat painfully as she studied his face through the hacked off fringe of his wood smoke hair. He eroded beneath the strength of his wanting, bending until the rail seemed to be the only thing holding him up.

" _Hayashimi!"_

Sen didn't hear him but she saw his lips move. She knew Suzume loved Lin. She'd seen them together. But until this moment she hadn't realize just how much he loved her.

"S'hundreds!" Cinna growled beneath her breath, "Almost as manys t'gaki!"

The cat sank over her heals flattening her ears and her tail bristled into a thick brush. Sen's stomach went cold as she raked her eyes over the spiders below. Cinna was right. There was just as many if not more. This wasn't what Sen wanted to see. She wanted to see the thin haggard ranks of the disheartened, not well rested disciplined troop. Their armor polished until the curves became gleaming black mirrors. They peeled away from the street side to form ranks at the back of the horde, marching in perfect unison under the sharply barked commands of a tall spider wearing a red sash emblazoned with gleaming black hourglasses.

"That's Shimizu-sempai."

Cinna jolted, sprawling on the balcony boards with a hiss as Sen threw her eyes overhead. Kuromi and Kohaku perched on the eve above them. The spider pointed at the soldier with the red sash.

"She's the captain of the black guard. She taught me how to make armor."

Kohaku's luminous green eyes were stricken as he studied the ranks.

"There are so many children!"

Sen's chest swelled on a thrill of shock as she followed his gaze. She picked out the young faces in the whirling, dancing, singing host at the head of the warrior God women. Kuromi was frowning in confusion at the throng of women and children ahead of the soldiers.

"I don't know any of the ones in kimono. They must be refugees from Shitamachi."

Sen didn't really care where they were from. Turning her eyes back over the sea of black she fought to find that speck of yellow. Grinding her teeth she watched as Lin disappeared through the moon gate. Her insides scrambled uneasily as she realized that below them spiders were swarming into the tea house interior. She and the cat scrambled out of the way as Suzume strode into the room only to begin pacing restlessly around the recessed sitting area clenching and unclenching his hands.

"Child! What now! Tell me or I fear I may do something entirely stupid!"

As the fox blurted all this in a hoarse choke Kohaku dropped down from the eve. Kuromi followed, landing beside him soundlessly carrying a small bundle in her many hands. The spider was dressed in her armor and the sight was seriously unnerving. As she skirted the edge of the room giving the cat wide berth Cinna fled into the small of Sen's back with a hiss and a low growl. Glancing at her quickly Kohaku bobbed a short apologetic bow, avoiding the God's gaze as he explained quietly.

"Nothing, Suzume-san. We do nothing."

As the God rounded on him in fury Kohaku threw up quelling hands.

"We have achieved our purpose, to study our foe from afar."

Holding his ground as the fox got up in his face shaking with silent refusal he continued quickly.

"Gold and coal will bring the spiders to Aburaya. We will be waiting."

Spitting words hushed with misery, the fox bowed his head and lifted clenched fists.

"Hayashimi is below, dragon! I feel as though this waiting may _kill_ me!"

His gloved hand was reaching now and his soft gentle voice was full of sympathy.

"I know, Suzume-san. But we must prepare. We must be patient."

Again the fox's eyes burned with torment as he fought his own nature.

"O-Inari-sama help me! I am not a patient being!"

It was the second time Sen had heard the fox refer to his goddess since the spiders stole Lin. He used to go on and on about Inari before that. Whether he had abandoned his service to Inari out of spite or simply to escape the oath that tied him to Izu Sen didn't know. His grudging return to faith seemed to accompany the changes she'd seen in him over the handful of days since they'd escaped the spider caverns. The fox wasn't the only one who'd changed. Kohaku was reaching with both of his hands now as a slow soothing wind circled the room.

"Try, Suzume-san. For Hayashimi's sake."

Abruptly the fox turned his back but didn't go tearing out of the room to do something stupid. Instead Suzume began pacing the length of the opposite wall.

"Dragon!" He growled hotly, "I miss my flute!"

Kohaku sagged in relief as he released the breath he was holding. Unconsciously he bowed even though the fox wasn't looking.

"Apologies, Suzume-san. I will find you a new one as soon as I can."

Stunned by the familiarity of their exchange, Sen could only stare and marvel at the shift in their relationship. Yes, Suzume was still the one who yelled and occasionally threw things. Yes, Kohaku retreated and placated. But as they circled each other warily they actually listened.

"Lady Sen?"

She whirled with her hammering heart throbbing in her throat as she found the spider at her elbow. Kuromi bobbed a bow to match Kohaku's as Cinna fled with a hiss to hide behind his knees. Keeping her eyes down as she held out more and more hands Kuromi offered the bundle from earlier.

"It won't hold up against fire, but at least it'll protect against silk and venom."

Blinking in confusion, Sen forced herself to accept the rough black silk wrapped bundle. It was lighter than the bulk suggested. Polished black gleamed in the lantern light as she brushed the cloth open. At once surprised and sick to her stomach, Sen stared at the spider armor.

"D-did you make this just now?"

Kuromi bowed again, shyly this time.

"Yes. Can I help you put it on? I want to make sure it fits."

All at once the young spider was flustering more and more hands nervously clambering closer. Sen backed away until the edge of the couch bit into the back of her calves. Taking the mask of her head she set it on the edge of the couch and added her bow, quiver, and scabbard. The moment she nodded nervously Kuromi's hands went to work. It wasn't the first time the spider had dressed her; although this time Sen wasn't standing half naked in an abandoned Tokyo train station. Trying not to cringe she awkwardly held out her arms as it all came on at once with startling swiftness. Astonished by how light it was, she blinked in surprise as the spider stepped back studying her soberly, flitting in to tug and tweak as she circled around and around knocking on the plates for some weird reason. It was hard not to giggle when she kept doing it all the while listening with a sober expression as if expecting to heard someone knock back.

"Looks good! Feel good?"

Sen nodded silently. The breastplate felt like it had been molded to her chest. The shoulder guards, sides, and black plate moved with her easily, not at all bulky or confining as her first chest armor had been. The articulated arm and elbow guards permitted full range of motion and she had no problem reaching for her bow. The same was true of her leg plates and knee cups. All of it was laced or riveted together in the same hard black substance of the panoply Kuromi wore. Sen blinked and brought one of the wrist guards close to her nose. It was then she realized the black had a faint red tinge and a pattern as well. Licking tongues of fire curled up the black plates. It kissed the curve of her breast plate in eye-pleasing swirls of pattern. Who knew the spider was such an artist?

"Did you make it look like fire on purpose?"

Again Kuromi nodded shyly although a smile was creeping across her face. It lit up her eyes making her look more like a girl than a solider.

"Yeah. I made Kohaku-san's look like wind."

As Sen craned her neck to see the cat hissed and spat.

"Y'look like ah _damned_ spider, neh kiddo!"

At once Kuromi's face fell. She crept back towards the balcony before Sen could thank her. Leaving the cat in a lurch Kohaku caught Kuromi's arm before she could disappear onto the roof. She jolted at the contact, staring up at him in surprise.

"Go with Suzume-san and Okesa back to the boat. The night river should now be calm. See them safely to Aburaya and tell Tomoe what has happened."

As the spider nodded reluctantly the cat and the fox bristled as they spoke in unison.

"Boat!?"

Kohaku nodded solemnly.

"The boat cannot carry us all. And I can only carry one."

The prospect of taking a ride on Kohaku's umbrella didn't seem to excite them. All the same, yowling angrily Cinna protested as she jabbed a claw at the floor.

"An' how's we s'possed t'git down t'the boat through that mess o' _spiders_ , neh!?"

"We won't go that way."

Kuromi offered a solution quietly as all her hands pointed overhead.

"The space between this roof and the next on the back side of the tea house is small."

As the cat opened her mouth to keep arguing Kuromi knelt and went to work. Cinna shut up, watching in fascination all the while lashing her tail and swiveling her ears as the spider produced white silk hand over hand from thin air. This she wound around and around as if binding a long thin pole. But she wasn't binding one, she was making one. In thin seconds she produced another sturdy looking pole of gleaming hard silk and then a thinner pole just as long. Whipping out an auger bit from the pouches at her waist she cored several holes in the thicker poles only to count them.

Sen gawked in awe as Kuromi made a hand axe without so much as blinking, forming and sharpening its edge with a whetstone as the darting fluttering blur of her many hands continued to work independently. Splitting the thin pole into regular lengths, she produced a hammer like some kind of magician and knocked the ladder together with firm hits. They stared silently as she carried her work out to the balcony, righting it carefully so the rungs rested on the eve above. Up and down she climbed in a blink, testing her work before flashing a shy smile and knocking her knuckles against the silk ladder before repeating what was kind of becoming her catch phrase.

"Looks good. Feels good."

The cat wasn't impressed anymore. Her red eyes contracted into slits as she bristled.

"Aye ain't goin' wit' _'er_!"

Suzume growled at Cinna angrily and he spun from his pacing to confront her.

"Cat! You waste time!"

Standing up hunching her back and wiggling her claws threateningly, Cinna hissed back.

"She's ah _spider_ , y'stupid doggie! Aye don' trust 'er!"

Baring his sharp teeth Suzume glared down at her.

"And you are a _cat_ and I do not trust you either! But what choice do we have!"

Wringing a pair of her hands anxiously, Kuromi pointed towards the balcony.

"We should go before someone sees the ladder. Shimizu-sempai will have posted sentries."

Neither of them paid her any attention. But as Kohaku knelt as the cat's side she startled, looking up at him as if guilty of something. She cuddled into him without hesitation and he hugged her gently. The cat purred loudly and testing his armor with her claws. He murmured her name tenderly.

"Okesa. Please go with Kuromi. It is as Suzume-san says. We are running out of time."

Throwing her thin arms around his neck, she almost pulled him over.

"Aye don' wanna leave yeh, kitten!"

And that was the truth of it. Sen saw it clearly as she loitered against the far wall. A melting smile cleared the tight lines from Kohaku's face as he scratched her velvet ears.

"I will be right behind you, Okesa."

She nodded wordlessly then roughly shoved him away. She snatched her daggers from the table, hastily returning them to the small of her back before bolting up the ladder and disappearing onto the roof. Tight lipped and pale faced the fox followed doing his best to avoid looking down. He glanced back at her uncertainly and hesitated just under the eve. But whatever he was going to say he withheld, disappearing up of the lip of the roof and out of sight. Sen blinked as Kohaku left a slim coin of silver on the table beside their dirty dishes. He frowned and looked away going pink in the cheeks.

"I am a thief no more."

He muttered guilty, making her snort in amusement. She questioned him as he took her hand and led her to the balcony.

"When have you ever been a thief?"

He busied himself with admiring her new armor.

"Many times I have taken what is not mine."

She pressed teasingly, trying to break his anxious mood.

"Like what?"

Here Kohaku glanced at her furtively as he gently threaded his arm around her waist. Heat climbed into her face and heart as he pulled her close. He murmured his words against her temple. And all the tiny hairs on her body stood up in a thrill.

"I stole you away, did I not?"

It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, Because he'd stolen Chihiro; he'd stolen her from her parents and Michio. Chihiro was gone now; all the same they had both stolen. She'd stolen Satako. She'd stolen his life as a God.

"If you're a thief then so am I."

But she'd made her peace with these thefts when she fed herself to The Fire. Nuzzling the side of his chin she rested her brow on his shoulder trying to forget all the spiders under their feet. She tried not to think about how small Lin looked in the writhing mass of black. She forgot what he'd said as he lifted the umbrella and filled it with a snapping wind. Up they rocketed until they drifted over the thick haze blanketing Clock Tower Town. Her stomach flipped and floated as their sharp spin dwindled to a lazy turn. And she felt his smiled against her cheek as she clung to his neck. Staring down at the tiny lights she found herself frowning at how small they were.

Clock Tower Town was a tiny blip of light.

The rest of the spirit world was nothing but swallowing black.

All at once they were sinking and he called to call above the wind to be heard.

"Do not dwell on unhappy things, dear one. Else we will sink like stones."

So she stole a small selfish kiss that sent them sailing back up into the empty sky.


	36. Chapter 36

**LIN**

Crouched like a dog on the bare black boards beside the spindly table, Lin kept her head down. From the corners of her eyes she studied every inch of the Laughing Moon's feast hall. Riots of laughter poured through the narrow crack in the shuttered doors of the private room that took a place of honor at the back of the massive banquet room. Beyond the thin moon-colored paper partitions the tea house crawled with spiders of every size and age imaginable. Seated in long rows that filled the rectangular room with a flurry of waving, reaching, flashing white hands, the host of God women were all dressed in fantastic silks that made the gaudy interior pale by comparison. Servants hurried amongst them half crushed under mammoth platters of fried rice; steaming kettles of hot and sour soup; trenchers of fried meats; stacked baskets of monstrous steamed dumplings; and bottles upon bottles of crimson silk capped rice wine. All of this they devoured ravenously only to call for more and more and more.

They were just as bad as Kaonashi.

Silent and formidable, soldier spiders lined the walls at regular intervals like tall obsidian pillars. They held the crimson hour glass banners proudly. More guarded the steps leading up to the private room wielding sharp silk lances. Shimizu herself stood frowning dourly against the wall behind them. The captain of Shurui's soldier's wore a red and black hour-glass sash to mark her distinction. Although the scarred and horse faced spider lost some of her formidability as Lin caught her looking longingly at the untouched meal on the table between her queen and the mistress of the Laughing Moon Tea House. But in the main atrium outside the feast room the guards were eating in shifts. Lin could hear the clank of their armor and the hard edge of their barking laughter.

There were too many to fit them all at the feast hall tables.

Too many spiders; they spilled out of the feast room into the rest of the tea house.

Lin was sure the other customers loved that.

She barely resisted the urge to scratch her head as a maddening itch tickling the back of her skull. Unfortunately, keeping her head down made her heavy hair drag painfully on her scalp. The sugary smelling pomade the spiders used to oil their hair made her scalp itch and the weight of it all was giving her a headache. The spiders had piled it high in the same ridiculous lacquered style they wore theirs, skewering it with several resinous hairpins finished with dangling bits that kept knocking against her cheeks. Grinding her teeth savagely, Lin wanted nothing more than to tear it all down into a nest of tangles. Likewise she wanted to shred the hideous red and yellow striped silk kimono she was forced to wear. Her skin crawled at the touch of spider silk. It was hot and the tightly bound black hour-glass obi at her waist made it hard to breathe. Clenching the empty fabric in her only hand, Lin resisted the urge to lift her fingers to touch her stomach where she had secreted away Umi's knife.

That was especially hard given how close she was Shurui's pale white feet.

Lin would've liked nothing better than to cut off her toes one by one.

The spider queen towered above her dressed in a flooding fall of black, gold, silver, and red silks that pooled across the wet black surface of the lacquered floor. As Shurui lounged on the fat cushions of her low wide chair the fabric shifted and whispered against her long bare legs, brushing Lin's shoulder from time to time making her shudder. But Lin bit her lip and endured the sensation. One false move; one false word, and Shurui wouldn't hesitate to kill her. And so she forced herself to wear spider colors, just as she forced herself to give Kokoro to Fumiko. Shurui had left Makoto behind in the care of one of her handmaidens just as she had left Kiri behind as well. A spider turned up demanding to take Kokoro as well. Before Lin could kill the reaching spider Fumiko appeared and shoved her sister aside, offering more and more and more of her hands all the while staring in desperate silence begging Lin without words not to argue. What could she do but trust the spider with her daughter?

Better her than a stranger. Better with Fumiko than here.

At Lin's back Mistress Mei Mei hiccuped and laughed shamelessly. She hadn't changed at all. Like a curtain her hair rolled off the top of her head in a long fiery orange cloud that fell straight to the floor so thick she seemed small beneath its lustrous bushy bristling abundance. The full moon of her face was a ruddy red to match. She smiled so completely, revealing her drink yellowed teeth, until even her eyes became smiles. The moon gilded edges of her black and white satin robes slipped off the rounded curves of her shoulders revealing the voluptuous curves of her body. She revealed all of her fleshy red legs as she tucked up one knee, bracing her foot on the edge of her chair so she could balance the huge bottle of rice wine in her lap. Out of this she poured and poured and poured endlessly into a moonstone saucer as if the bottle would never be empty.

The shōjō was drunk. But then again, she was always drunk. That was the nature of shōjō: to be drunk and to laugh at everything and everyone. Lin couldn't remember a time where she had seen the shōjō sober. Anyone who didn't know Mei Mei would take one look at her grin and think she was a fool. But Buddha smiles often hid scorpion stings. And Lin couldn't wait to see if Shurui was dumb enough to overlook that.

"You shay your daughtersh made your shilks?"

Mei Mei slurred her words with a lisp that whistled between the massive gap in her front teeth, slowly, as if she couldn't really think clearly. Her voice was deep and sweet with good humor.

"Yes. They are fine weavers."

"You're a lucky mother. But you keep shtrange petsh, Shurui-dono. Ish that one a human?"

She listed sideways in her chair to peer at Kubi. The Lin didn't miss the fact that shrewd black glittered behind the hiding smiles of the shōjō's eyes. The ruse of her inebriation broke only for a second as she looked with interest at the collar around Kubi's neck. Kubi sat on the boards at Bah Fuh's filthy feet dressed and coiffed in the same ridiculous livery as Lin. Still holding her leash the leash attached to the iron collar, the bat was gorging herself on Peking duck, ripping the flesh from the roasted bird's neck so she could gnaw the exposed bones. Undisguised disgust crossed Shimizu's face as she looked away from the bat. Shurui ignored Kubi as well. Before Mei Mei's attention could amble sideways to the Bah Fuh, the spider queen held out her blood red saucer. Eagerly the shōjō filled the cup without spilling a drop only to fill her saucer as well and drink deeply.

"I'm not sure what she is. Isn't she curious?"

Surfacing with a gasp from her now empty cup, Mei Mei laughed high and sweet.

"Curioush ish putting it lightly, Shurui-dono."

Here the shōjō pointed a weaving finger down at Lin. She froze, keeping her face lowered just in case Mei Mei recognized her. She hadn't exactly been a frequent customer at Aburaya, but the shōjō had come on many occasions for a bath.

"And that one? Did your sholdier pull off her arm?"

As Mei Mei jabbed her thumb at Shimizu Shurui sipped her sake and reply mysteriously.

"Perhaps."

It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth either. Blinking in surprise as if noticing her for the first time, the shōjō hurriedly poured and offered a saucer of sake to Shimizu. Even as she rocked and leaned out of her chair, the red-faced God didn't so much as spill a drop. Mildly amused by her state, the soldier refused it with a polite bow. Mei Mei offered it again frowning as if she was stupid for refusing. When again Shimizu declined wordlessly their host laughed explosively and downed the drink, wiping her mouth before rounding in a weaving lurch.

"Don't you let them have any fun, Shurui-dono?"

Before she could answer their hostess began blabbering nosily.

"Yoursh ish t'first train we've had shince t'bath housh Aburaya went out of bushinesh. Did you really come all the way from Shitamachi?"

Lin saw Shurui's toes clench at the name Aburaya. For an instant the spider's red eyes flicked down at her. They were a cold knife of pressure on her exposed neck. But the spider hid her calculating expression by turning her head from side to side making all her fantastic hair ornaments flash and jingle. Fascinated, Mei Mei stared in drunken awe as if distracted while Shurui sipped her sake again.

"We come from the Uguisudani Cavern, not Shitamachi. You say the bath house is closed? Pity. I would have liked a proper bath."

Mei Mei chortled with lecherous glee, gesturing overhead with her empty cup before filling it.

"I can offer your girls a bath, Shurui-dono. But I can't promish it'll be proper."

Shimizu shifted at that uncomfortably, going a bit pink in the cheeks as she looked away. Here Shurui pressed the shōjō for more information with carefully crafted indifference.

"Why did they close?"

Again she didn't so much as spill while pouring from her massive bottle, struggling to keep her bristling hair from getting into her drink only to giggle absently as if it was some silly game she was playing by herself.

"Aburaya? It didn't closh actually. It wash abandoned."

Feigning interest, Shurui held out her cup for more sake.

"Abandoned? Why?"

Happily Mei Mei filled the vessel and then filled Shurui's head with exactly what Lin wanted. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the shōjō continued with an expansive gesture that left her laughing drunkenly.

"Aburaya was kept by a great big fat witch named Yubaba!"

Shurui snorted at the name even as her eyes glittered brightly.

"Yubaba?"

Here Mei Mei leaned in beckoning with her hand. She giggled uncontrollably even as she whispered.

"Ish bad luck t'talk of the dead. But Yubaba wash sho greedy she got shloppy. She got eaten by an evil she created. The place is curshed now. Nobody goesh near it. Too bad. She used t'heat her water with coal. Wouldn't it be lovely t'have hot water heated by human fire for a bath?"

Mei Mei lurched back into her chair staring overhead dreamily as she drank her cup empty. As her leg slipped out from under her she sagged only to squirm her way back upright.

"T'shmoke shtack wash going earlier today. I guessh theresh coal in there after all. Maybe itsh true about t'gold too."

Lin blinked in surprise. Why was the stack smoking? More and more hands appeared to grip the edge of the table and Shurui didn't need to feign her interest.

"What gold?"

Mei Mei beckoned for her cup telling the story in distraction as if more interested in her wine.

"Yubaba wash rich. Itsh all in there shtill. All her treashure. Nobody can get it. Mother Tanuki tried jusht recently and she got eaten. Maybe you and all your sholdiersh should give it a try?"

A thrill sang up Lin's spine leaving her light headed as she finally realized what was going on. Shurui and Shimizu exchanged glances over the shōjō's head as she busied with pouring. Abruptly, as if she'd forgotten what they were talking about, Mei Mei changed the subject.

"Sho… What bringsh you t'Clock Tower Town?"

Again Shurui set her hair pins sparkling as she smiled demurely.

"We are passing through on our way to Heian-kyo."

The shōjō blinked and blinked then repeated the name as if she hadn't heard correctly.

"Heian-kyo?"

Here Mei Mei laughed explosively as it Shurui had said something funny and she'd only just now gotten the joke. Lin looked up sharply as the shōjō almost fell out of her chair, rolling around in hysterics but never spilling a drop as she drank and laughed and then drank some more. Not wanting to insult her host, but obviously insulted herself, Shurui drew back into her chair with a tight expression. Lin barely contained her glee as the spider queen almost sputtered in confusion.

"Good luck on your journey, Shurui-dono! I wi _sh_ you well!"

Here Mei Mei cut her off by producing a long thin piece of paper blotted with ink tallies. Lin didn't need to see it to know the amount owed would be monstrous. Taking the sake saucer from the spider queen's hand she replaced it with the page. Shurui stared at it stupidly.

"What is this?"

Mei Mei poured her another cup of sake placing it in one of the spider's many hands.

"The preliminary bill. It'll be more come morning if your daughter _sh_ keep eating."

Such sweet satisfaction sang in Lin's blood as silence fell over the room. Shurui had come here to play Mei Mei. But the drunken mistress had played the spider in return. The shōjō had stopped laughing, but more poured through the gap in the paper shutters. The spiders had brought out their own entertainment. Pipes trilled and cymbals clinked as the musicians played rollicking shamisen duets. You could barely hear Shurui's choked reply over the revelry.

"You offered us _hospitality!_ "

She spat the word like an accusation. Smiling happily as if absolutely nothing was amiss Mei Mei gestured toward the main hall.

"I offered _you_ hoshipitality, Shurui-dono. I didn't extend that offer to your daughtersh."

Rising to her feet so swiftly her chair toppled over, Shurui glared down at the mistress of the Laughing Moon murderously. Lin scrambled aside, jerking upright against the adjacent wall pressed into a corner with a hand on her obi. But even as Shimizu advanced on the shōjō, the warrior God and the spider queen froze as the paper walls on all three sides and the lantern ceiling folded up and inward to reveal a score of stone faced oni wielding crossbows. Lin froze as one sighted on her. The rest sighted on Shurui. As her ruby eyes darted around the room she paled and threw up a quelling hand.

"Stand down, Shimizu!"

The soldier spider bared her teeth in a vicious snarl, red eyes scanning the once hidden force as if counting. Finally she jabbed her lances into the floor and lifted the flock of her gauntleted hands grinding her sharp teeth furiously. Only now did Bah Fuh's head jerked up. Her telescopic ears swiveled and twitched. A bit of gristle was hanging from her oil-slick face. It wiggled and waggled as she jerked her head back and forth.

"Shurui! Shurui, I smell stones!"

"Shut up, bat!" Shurui seethed in a hiss, "You are useless!"

Here Mei Mei broke and she giggled uncontrollably. The mistress of the Laughing Moon was hiccupping and holding her sides as if in pain. Mei Mei had to take several deep breaths before she could speak.

"If you can't pay now you can pay in the morning."

Shurui's eyes were deadly as her pale hands balled into shaking fists.

"And if I don't?"

Mei Mei pouted, unaffected by the spider's barely restrained rage.

"Why wouldn't you? I told you where you can find plenty of gold. More than enough t'pay your bill and get you on your way to Heian-kyo. But if you prefer to keep t'gold what shay I keep your daughtersh? They make shuch lovely shilk. We don't have anything like it here in Clock Tower Town."

Shimizu jolted making her armor clatter loudly. Turning to Shurui crestfallen she protested loudly.

"Mother, no!"

Again the spider queen cut her off with a slash of her pale white hands. Fixing the red faced God with a frosty stare she bargained.

"They're worth much more than the bill."

Mei Mei lurched back into her seat with a considering grin making her sake bottle slosh.

"True. Not t'sholdiersh then. I have plenty of oni. I'll just keep the weaversh."

Here she smiled like the moon and held out a full sake cup. Still smiling so widely her eyes disappeared into more smiles she poured it out onto the floor. Lin's blood turned to ice as the mistress of the Laughing Moon chirped the next sweetly.

"I like shilk, but I don't need shilk. If you come back for vengeance, Shurui-dono, I'll kill every last one of them."

With that Mei Mei slouched out of her chair hefting her massive bottle on her hip. The Oni continued to sight their quarrels on Shurui as the shōjō staggered for the gap in the paper shutters. She hung on them heavily waving back at them with a merry grin.

"Shtay and enjoy the food and drink, Shurui-dono. I'll shee you in the morning."

Only after Mei Mei was long gone did the walls and ceiling snap closed.

"Shurui?!" The bat cried tremulously, "Where are you Shurui!?"

Instantly the spider queen wheeled on Lin baring her fangs as she seemed to stretch taller and taller. Scrambling back into the corner only to realize she had nowhere to go Lin's blood turned to ice as at once the ruse of the white faced woman faded. As Shurui pulled on her hideous insect black skin she towered over her filling the room and making it small with her huge abdomen and shifting legs.

 _"You let her make a fool out of me, weasel!"_

Shurui hissed in a metallic voice that was gone deep and monstrous. Trapped in the spider's cold shadow Lin froze as she tasted death on her tongue. But then something hit her from the side. Stunned, the world spun only to stop as she was yanked upright by a score of rough hands. Shimizu shoved her behind her blocking the spider queen's path. With her empty hands she reached and begged for reason.

"Don't kill her, mother!"

The spider queen ignored her captain's prostrations.

 _"Get out of my way!"_ Shurui seethed as she lashed out with a lance of silk.

They were lucky. If she had used her bell they'd both be dead. Shimizu climbed the wall only to flip like a whip, arching them through the air as the blade went whizzing by beneath their backs to embed in the black wood of the floor. Lin's insides seized and lurched as the soldier spider danced away hauling her along by her only arm as they retreated around the tables. Shimizu had her by the wrist which was the only reason Lin didn't reach for Umi's dagger. Lumbering after them still hissing unintelligibly Shurui followed.

"You idiot!" Bah Fuh wailed as her blind eyes searched the room uselessly, "What are you doing now!? Shurui! Shurui!?"

The bat was yanking on Kubi's leash so hard she was choking the stranger. But there was blood on the woman's neck. Catching its scent Bah Fuh dropped the lead and began snuffling the air in ecstatic puffs between her protests.

"Don't kill her! We need her help to find the gold!"

Shurui rounded on the bat hissing furiously.

"Why should I believe anything you say, bat!? You're as blind as you are useless!"

Unfazed as the monster bore down on her the bat grinned revealing her vicious needle teeth.

"You need me as much as you need the weasel. Otherwise you'll never get to Heian-kyo!"

Lin blinked and then Shurui was a white faced woman again. Her hair and clothes were wild and her eyes stricken as she stared at the bat uncertainly. Gone was the monster. Gone was the proud queen. What was left was a thin and brittle. And that gave Lin hope of crushing her beneath hr feet.

"There is gold?"

Shurui's question was little more than a hoarse rasp. The bat grinned wickedly revealing the thick knots of flesh stuck in her rotting teeth.

"All the gold and all the coal we could ever want."

Without turning the spider queen threw a cold command at Shimizu.

"Tell the soldiers to eat as much as they want. We leave for Heian-kyo at dawn."

Her captain froze bolt still as her voice thinned with horror.

"What about the weavers, mother?!"

Shurui gave her no answers. Throwing open the shutters, she swept out even as Shimizu reached after her.

"Mother, wait! What about our little sisters!?"

As her voice shredded with fear she dropped Lin. Scrambling away, the need to run hummed in her veins like life-giving blood. But there was nowhere to go and Lin redirected quickly as Bah Fuh cackled mockingly.

"Your mommy's not listening, little soldier. You know she doesn't hear anyone but herself."

Whirling on her toes Shimizu hurled a handful of silk right in the bat's face. The fat filthy creature tumbled out of her chair with a muffled squeal and fell at Kubi's feet. The hard-faced God woman looked on in revulsion but couldn't pull away. Sitting there like a frozen statue, she watched in hatred as the bat writhed on the floor clawing the matted patch of silk sealing her lips. Bah Fuh fell still as the blunted tip of Shimizu's silk lance knocked her between the eyes and set her unconscious. Movement attracted Lin's attention. Anxious spider soldiers clambered at the open door peering in uncertainly. Shimizu whirled pointing and barking.

"Shut the door and stay out! Go eat! That's an order!"

The shutters slammed closed with skittering shrieks as they rattled in their tracks. Soon music and nervous laughter started up outside. Coiled like a spring, Lin skittered along the wall away from Shimizu as she collapsed in a nearby chair. Pulling off her helmet the soldier tossed it onto the table and dragged over the bill. She studied it frowning deeper and deeper until, in a sudden rage, she tore the page into pieces and threw them into the air. Dropping her head into another pair of hands, the spider sagged as tatters of paper floated down from above. As her shoulder shook she sobbed silently making her armor rattle. All the while the rest of her hands wrung themselves endlessly while more worried the tight knot of her hair and picked anxiously as the straps of her armor.

Lin stared mutely at the stricken spider. Half of her wondered if she could cut her throat with Umi's knife before she could react. The other half wondered how such a monster could cry.

Lin gasped and scrambled in place as one of the paper walls popped open. But there were no crossbows, no leering oni waiting within. Shrewd and cool, Fumiko filled the narrow frame of the hidden passage. She was dressed in a narrow sleeved jacket with tightly bound trousers, tabi, and sandals made of the same sturdy black silk. Her long hair was tightly braided and knotted atop her head in the style the soldiers favored. Shimizu's chair clattered over as the warrior was on her feet with blades of silk in her hands. Her tear-streaked face gawked in shock as Fumiko beckoned with the white flock of her hands.

"Hurry!"

Shimizu stared in confusion remaining rooted in place. Her sister's face twisted with rage as she hissed revealing she'd been listening all along.

"You heard her! She's going to sell us! But not if we get the gold first! We can stay here! The Gods want to buy our silk! We can pay the bill and give Shurui the rest of the gold! She doesn't want us! As soon as she has the gold she'll forget us, get her coal, and leave forever!"

The soldier was scandalized by what her sister was proposing.

"Fumiko, this is _treason!_ "

The handmaiden was out of the passage pulling on her sister.

"Why do you still follow her, Shimizu?!

Torn and conflicted, Shimizu leaned away from the little spider fighting her pulling hands.

"She saved us! She raised us! We owe her…!"

Fumiko bared her fangs in a vicious laugh.

"All for her benefit! She's not our mother! A real mother would never sell her daughters!"

But Shimizu didn't want to hear it. She clamped hands over her ears like a child.

"Stop! You shouldn't say things like that! _She'll kill you if she hears!_ "

Clambering forward she tried to cover the little handmaiden's mouth. But Fumiko didn't seem to care. She yanked the hands away clinging to them tightly.

"Garuda is dead and the war is false! I won't see my sisters go back into a brothel!"

Pulling with all her strength she managed to get Shimizu to take a step toward the passage.

"I won't see you die for the love of a liar who doesn't want you!"

The last seemed to break the soldier's resolve. She turned to claim her helmet only to hesitate. Then she tore the sash from her shoulder and threw it onto the pieces of the bill. As Shimizu bent and disappeared down the narrow hall, Fumiko turned to reach for her.

"Come with us!"

Lin stalled mulishly, testing the agitated spider's intentions. Fumiko had been trying to prove herself an ally all along, but spiders had as many hands as they had faces.

"Why should I help you?"

Her eyes darted at the door over and over as she spat truth in her hurry.

"Because I have your son and daughter!"

Lin felt herself rocking forward onto the tips of her toes. Her insides flooded with white cold shock so strong she barely heard what the spider said next.

"This is your chance, Lin! This is our only chance!"

Lin's skin prickled eerily as she felt eyes. Glancing down she fond Kubi staring at her with gray eyes full of a desperate silent things. Stabbing a finger at the stranger, Lin insisted for some reason.

"She comes too."

Fumiko seemed surprised by that, even a little angry.

"The traitor? Why?"

Lin scrambled for an explanation even though she didn't really have one. Her intentions revealed themselves as she blurted truth.

"She knows things I don't!"

Fumiko circled and circled all her hands in exasperation.

"Fine! Fine! Just hurry!"

Lurching forward on shaking legs Lin seized the woman's leash.

"Get up. Follow me."

Scrambling upright, she followed in Lin's shadow past Fumiko. Lin had to stoop to fit through the squat narrow hallway. Dim light filtered down from above. Looking up she found a network of thin ladders and listening stations that seemed to reach all the way up to the top of the building. Lin jerked forward into the tight gap as the spider folded the wall closed behind them. Shimmying sideways and around a corner Lin gritted her teeth against the ripe barnyard stink of oni. She tugged on Kubi's leash from time to time as the stranger lagged behind. Finally the incredulous question wormed it way free.

"How did you know this was here? What about the oni?"

Fumiko hissed between her teeth, avoiding her question with another question.

"Does it matter how?"

Yes, it did matter. Her confidence in the spider slipped as the passage grew narrower and narrower until the walls snagged her ridiculous hair and impractical clothes. Panic surged in her too small chest. She fought to breathe the stale stagnant air as the light above dwindled into dark. Lin almost bumped into Shimizu, slamming back into Kubi as her skin crawled. She hadn't even seen the soldier spider! She couldn't imagine how she was fitting through the pressing walls with all her armor!

"There's a door."

The soldier muttered quietly.

"It's locked. I'm working on it."

It popped revealing the spider's long silk crowbars as dim light and rank air filtered in from outside. Shimizu put her shoulder to the plank and shoved the door open, dislodging a rotted mattress that hid the passage. They popped out of the hidden corridor among the plumes of steam and smoke and piles of trash that clotted the dark back alley behind the tea house. Mushi and tsukumonogami skittered and crawled out of their path as they crept down a spongy sagging set of stairs onto the wet cobbles below. Lin knew the alley immediately. It led directly to the night river docks.

Her legs trembled as she lifted her eyes to look at the hazy orange black sky. She had been a prisoner for so long. Laughter echoed down from on high as light and sounds of the street filtered from afar. But as something moved in the dark the soldier whirled with blades of silk in her hands. Pale and thin as a ghost, Kiri peeled out of the dark wearing a haunted expression. Bound to her chest in yards of silk she carried Kokoro and Makoto. Dropping Kubi's leash Lin rushed Kiri reaching with her only hand. Silently the hollow human helped her get the loops of silk over her head and around her ridiculously long sleeves, carefully settling the tiny wiggling bodies against the hollow of her stomach. Fidgeting and cringing, Fumiko gestured at Kiri at a loss.

"I… I couldn't make her stay. She followed me. If I had raised a fuss the sisters would've…!"

She cut off as Shimizu's knee cup clattered against the cobbles. The soldier sank to a seat on her heels as if her legs had dissolved. Her pale face was blank with horror as she stared with red eyes that glittered in the dark. Shimizu cursed and cursed beneath her breath.

"You little idiot... The gold doesn't matter anymore... She'll come after us for this. She will come after us and _kill_ us and I won't be able to stop her. She's stronger than me. She's always been stronger than me ever since she stole those bells."

Clenching her hands into fists she bent over them shaking in rage.

"I can't make this right! I can't bring you back! She'll kill you for defying her!"

Shimizu choked on every word.

" _We're dead and there's nothing I can do to save you!"_

Suddenly very small and obviously frightened, Fumiko stood watching her sister blankly. Lin ground her teeth as the soldier lamented, not sure if she should be sad or happy. Spiders had smashed her home. They tried to kill her husband. They stole her children. Then Kiri spoke in a thin whisper so soft Lin hardly heard it.

"Then come with us and live."

The spiders faced jerked up to stare incredulously at the haggard female. Lin found herself looking at the human similarly. If anyone had a right to hate the spiders it was Kiri. Suddenly, however, the human was disinterested in hating them. Lin cringed from the human's expectant stare. All at once she realized what she was asking. Gaping, she sputtered, backing away unconsciously as her insides screamed and scrambled.

"Aburaya is _haunted!_ It's no place for anyone God or human!"

Clutching her kits close she stumbled over refusals.

"Its night and the _gaki_ will be out in force and… and...!"

Moving like a ghost the human put a hand on her chest as her white eye burned. Lin stared in revulsion at the thin packet of gold silk shoved down the front of her kimono.

"Garuda says we should go t'the Bath House."

Lin barked a flinty incredulous laugh. They might as well have gone back through the station out into the human world! But she had seen with her own eyes during the black parade the spiders posted beside the tunnels leading down to tracks. Shimizu could probably kill them. But could she? Would she? Before she could curse the advice of God-not-of-this-land a scream echoed out of every window and door of the Laughing Moon Tea House. A scream so shrill and full of rage that is silenced the endless false mirth radiating out of the moonbeam walls. Fumiko shook from head to toe with terror at the sound. Grimly Shimizu was on her feet securing her helmet as she grabbed her sister by the hand.

Lin spun away from the sound seizing Kubi's leash. Putting her back on the restaurant she bolted for the docks. She forced her stiff legs to remember how to run. There was no time to argue. There was nowhere else to go.

Down the dark alley she flew. Back out into the light as they darted out onto a long wharf. Stone became echoing wood beneath her bare feet. The thick mineral smell of water rose out of the glowing yellow mists. They rose in billowing waves around the waterfront. Several lackluster frogs wearing a fisherman's coats straightened at the end of the dock. They were smoking pipes beside the moorings of a wood boat half hidden in fog.

"Wot's all this?" One croaked curiously as they barreled down on them.

Then Shimizu launched past her shoulder like a shadows dividing the mists. Seizing the frog by the throat she picked him up one handed and hurled him into the fog. He squealed like a pig as he flew before landing with a distant splash. His companions stood with squeaks and ribbets of surprise the spider dove into their midst. She whirled in a riot of punching arms and legs sending more frogs flying.

"Theif!" One sputtered and splashed distantly, raising an alarm. _"Theif!"_

Lin snarled furiously as lanterns bloomed along the wharf. Scores of webbed feet hammered the boards as angry shouts echoed from afar.

"You should've killed them! Now everyone will know where we are!"

Shimizu snarled as she dropped into the boat.

"No! I'm sick of killing!"

Lin fumed, barely resisting the urge to kick her. Of all the times for the bloody spider to grow a conscience! As her sister dropped in lithely beside her already fitting oars into the locks the soldier tore up the rope lines with two hands, gripped the dock with two more and offering the remaining.

"Get in!"

Lin's insides weighed with cold churning terror as she stared through the parting mists at the lapping black water. Deep water! It frightened her more than spiders. She couldn't swim. She never could, not even to save Sen as Suzume lay drowning against her knees. Clutching her squalling kits she shook her head and made Kubi and Kiri go first. Then hands seized her in the mist as she continued to hesitate, dragging her over the edge into the bottom of the boat as arrows screamed through the dark. Several thunked loudly against the side of the dock, their humming shafts vibrating like quivering harp strings. Lin cringed over the frightened mewling kits as blades of silk flashed above her. Standing in the stern Shimizu slashed the angry swarm pelting Lin with splintered shafts as she bellowed orders.

"Row!"

They lurched away from the dock out into the obscuring mists. But that didn't stop the arrows. More screamed down from the night, hissing harmlessly as they plunged into the water. Again and again Shimizu cut them from the air until they moved out of range. Finally the only sound was the burbling plunge and creak of oars and the kits cries.

Absently shushing them, Lin stifled a gasp as the boat surged faster. Looking up, she found that Shimizu had produced two more sets of oars and was adding her strength to her sister's. Between all the spider arms they were practically skimming across the top of the water. Sitting up out of the keel beside her, Kiri's white eye gleamed in the gloom as she stared madly the swirling white fog. She was clutching the packet of silk as if it was the only thing in the world that offered her comfort. The shadows seemed to pool like water, writhing and lapping around her body like the water splashing over the sides of the boat.

"Garuda says Shurui's coming!"

Shimizu spat angrily over the side of the boat as she continued to row.

"Garuda's dead, you stupid human!"

Again she ignored the spider's bark whereas once it would've set her cringing in terror. As if she was miles and miles away Kiri touched her chest and her head.

"He is. But now he's here."

Lin was taken aback by the change in the human. She had been different after Shurui forced her to hear the dead God's voice. With a thrill of apprehension that set her skin crawling Lin remembered her two shadows. It wasn't the first time the human had displayed two shadows either. Manami had taken up residence in Kiri's body. And now it seemed slowly Garuda was doing the same. Unfortunately as he did there seemed to be less and less of Kiri. Unsettled by the realization Lin startled violently as Shimizu tapped her shoulder. The spider motioned at the human with a free hand as she hissed behind another even though they all could hear clearly.

"Is she loosing it?"

Lin glanced down at Kubi as suddenly the stranger's eyes began burning holes in the side of her cheek. The eerie God woman was lying on the bottom of the boat in the pooling water exactly as she fell. The bare blades of her iron eyes cautioned silently as they stared through the gloom. She was trying to tell her something but there was no way to know what. Lin hesitated, wondering what the spiders would do if they knew the truth about Kiri.

"Do you know why Shurui sent you after us?"

Lin wasn't sure why she asked. All the same the soldier answered.

"No."

Shimizu didn't sound proud of that. She nodded her head back at Fumiko.

"Until recently I didn't question mother's will. Then this idiot started teaching me to think for myself. Soldiers aren't supposed to think and now I understand why!"

"If it makes you feel any better you're not very good at thinking."

Fumiko sniped from the front of the boat making Shimizu bristle.

"And neither are you! That was the worst half-baked rescue attempted I've ever seen!"

The handmaiden spider muttered sullenly.

"I won't leave you behind! I'll come back and keep coming back even if it's stupid!"

Sighing gustily, Shimizu's face tightened with many difficult emotions.

"I know… And I love you for it."

They rowed in silence for a while as the mists broke and gathered over their heads. But even the rhythmically lapping water did nothing to sooth the riot in her head. Absently rocking the now soundly sleeping kits Lin boiled over. She knew Shurui wanted to bring back Garuda. But wasn't Garuda why they'd started this war? Lin wasn't quite sure. She'd only caught bits and pieces of the spider's idiotic vendetta. If she was going to die she at least wanted to know why.

"Why did you go to war with Shitamachi? You must know that much."

Fury raged in Shimizu's eyes as she threw them at her like lances of bloody silk. She spit venom over the side of the boat and bared her needled teeth.

"Shitamachi went to war with itself, weasel woman. Once it caught fire there was nothing anyone could do but watch it burn and hope to survive! They blamed us as we stood in the ashes knowing every one of us held the flame to the fuse. But still! They expelled us to die in the sun! When we didn't die, when we found one of the caverns that survived the old wars they sent their dogs after us! They harried us with blades and fire until I watched my _sisters_ go mad with blood!"

Lin looked away from the hate and the suffering in the spider's eyes. It was contagious. Still she pressed for the understanding that eluded her.

"What do you want? Why do you keep fighting?"

Shimizu shoved Kubi with the toe of her boat as her red eyes gleamed. The stranger glared back with venomous contempt.

"At first we were after her! She betrayed Garuda! She killed him and stole his soul! The only reason I haven't killed her yet is because mother ordered me not to!"

Lin knew she was the one who killed Garuda. She knew Shurui had come after Kubi to find where she'd hidden him away. But still, that wasn't all of it. Rowing viciously, Shimizu proved unnaturally strong as they lifted out of the water. Panting beneath her breath, she continued to spill truth.

"We had to leave when mother set the Wheel of Yamanote on Shitamachi in retribution for the way they persecuted us. It destroyed our cavern just as it destroyed theirs. We followed because she promised us a new life and a new home. We obeyed because she promised to bring Garuda back. She promised so many things."

Shimizu stopped rowing, hanging over the hafts staring blankly at her hands. As they coasted soundlessly through the water she hissed in an agonized choke. Her grim and ugly face twisted with bitterness as she chewed the words sullenly.

"I believed her because I was desperate for something! Anything to hold back the dark and the madness! I called her mother because I thought she loved me! But Shurui _used_ us the way Shitamachi _used_ us! She sold us for a _bottles_ of sake and a _bowls_ of fried rice!"

There it was: the answer Lin had been looking for. All this murder and destruction for nothing but spite and it was staggeringly stupid. It made Lin sick to her stomach with grief and rage. Sometimes Gods were no better than humans. Here the human corrected the spiders with the same distant voice.

"Kubi didn't betray Garuda."

Suddenly wringing the hafts of her oars Shimizu glared daggers at the wan female's back.

" _Human!_ I'm getting really sick of hearing you talk about things you don't know _shit_ about!"

Luckily they ran aground in the thick swirling mists. Otherwise the solider might have traded her oar for Kiri's neck. As the stupid human spilled across Kubi's lap Shimizu yanked in her oars and splashed over the side, pulling them up to the foot of the wide stone stairs and mooring the boat around the neck of the fat granite frog at its top. Lin could barely see it the fog was so thick. But as Fumiko stood to follow Lin grabbed her by the belt and hauled her back into the boat.

"Don't!"

She hissed furiously, scanning the shifting vapor for true movement. Lin's eyes crawled over the black heaps of rubble that had once been restaurants. With every hair on her body standing on end she held her breath and listened for shuffles. Coiled with terror she sniffed the air for the reek of death. It was utterly ridiculous that she would seek sanctuary here after all this time. She's only just escaped the hell lurking here. Humming with memories of horror she stared up at the ruin that'd once been her prison. But as she did all the air seemed to hiss out of her lungs as she exhaled endlessly. If she hadn't already been sitting she would've fallen. Clutching her stirring kits Lin stared. She stared and stared at the ghost hanging above the thick mists and the rotting roofs.

It illuminated the night with the stacked rows of its gold paper lattices and long wood balconies. The red exterior was still pocked and flecked and its green tiles broken and black in the dark. But the banned that bore its name flapped in the sky catching the dregs of light. Aburaya. Yubaba's bath house. Not the split and listing carcass that housed the gnawed bones of so many of her friends. This had to be a dream. This couldn't be real. Shimizu loitered on the stone steps looking between her and the distant ghost before snorting.

"Doesn't look so haunted to me."

Still dreaming, Lin turned her eyes to the front of the boat as the human sat up. Distantly her instincts shrieked and clawed inside her head as Kiri picked up Kubi's leash. The human stared long and hard at the stranger with an expression that made Lin's skin crawl. Even as she reached for Kiri with her only hand the girl's lips moved. Lin didn't hear the words so much as she saw them.

"Take off your collar."

Iron snapped and clattered in the keel of the boat. Lin jerked against the side of the hull as a pale bare foot struck Fumiko square in the chest. The smacking impact made Lin's chest resonate like a drum. Stunned, the handmaiden spider flew over the side and splashed into the water. Huddled over her kits in confusion Lin saw the stranger's mask clearly. Dour faced and frowning, but perfectly smooth and white; it gleamed like the moon. And the cruel edge of her naginata flashed like lightning as she vaulted off the edge of the boat. Directing its point at Shimizu, Kubi launched herself at the spider.


	37. Chapter 37

**LIN**

Caught off guard by the surprise attack the soldier spider brought one of her wrist guard up struggling to wheel aside as the naginata came crashing down with Kubi's full weight behind it. Silk and steal shrieked against each other in a flash of sparks as Shimizu screamed as well. The thick plate took the blow and held against the biting edge of the blade, but the jarring impact shattered what lay beneath. As the spider wheeled aside the stranger's blade continued down until it shattered the stone step where Shimizu once stood. But there were blade in her many hands as her injured arm dropped limp to her side. And she struck all at once, surging back to meet her aggressor.

 _"Traitor!"_ Shimizu's voiced thundered off the buildings, _"I will kill you myself!"_

Darting backwards along the edge of the step Kubi brought the thick shaft of her pole up over her head keeping the blade point low. The night hungrily swallowed her dark indigo clothing and the shifting lacquered lames of her armor so that all that remained of her was her dour moon face. Shifting her torso back and forth Kubi proved herself to be a formidable opponent, deflecting all of the spider's slashing blows only to dart and flick the cruel edge at Shimizu's calves and ankles. The spider had lots of hands, but she only had two legs. Deftly dancing around the flashing blade the soldier spider continued to advance until they spilled off stone into the weeds. Suddenly Kubi planted the blade the dirt and pivoted around the shaft with her whole body swinging up and slamming her bare foot into Shimizu's jaw. As her feet left the ground the spider back flipped, dropping her knives and catching herself with her many good hands before launching backwards to land on top of the stone frog. Furling her arms more and more appeared to ring her body as she rained a deadly deluge of short sharpened silk blades.

Standing in the listing boat Lin watched in horror as the stranger and the spider went to war. It all happened so fast and she wasn't sure anything of this was real. She wasn't sure who to be afraid for: Shimizu or Kubi. Lin startled Fumiko dragged herself up onto the stone steps coughing and sputtering. She waved her down pointing uselessly as the fighting God women.

"Do something!"

But Fumiko just gaped stupidly still trying to figure out what was happening. Dragging a plank of wood out of the weeds, Kubi hid beneath it and sprinted back. It was splintered and bristling with shards by the time she reached the stone frog. Throwing it at Shimizu, Kubi scissored her blade back and forth at the spider's knees. But Shimizu was gone, arching through the air and landing in her shadow swinging blades of silk so sharp they made the air scream. Wheeling her haft backwards over her head to protect her exposed back again sparks flew as silk met steel. Then Kiri stood and tipped over the side of the boat.

Cursing in terror thinking the human might drown Lin clambered over the edge. She gasped as she plunged waist deep into the frozen water. The kits squealed and protested loudly as the cold soaked through the silk. Hurriedly wading around the prow and up the slippery steps Lin came up short finding the human wasn't drowning at all. Still holding the oni collar in her thin fingers the human waded past her and up the steps. Rail thin beneath her plastered robes, the fat wad of silk at her stomach made a mockery of what she'd just recently lost. Standing in the ankle deep water her mismatched eyes stared endlessly back into the swirling mists of the night river. Her eerie white eye was incandescent in the gloom.

"She's almost here," Kiri choked between her chattering teeth, "And there's nothing he can do."

Suddenly a blast of wind screamed down from the restaurant district.

Lin cringed against it, hurrying out of the lapping waves as it nearly knocked her down.

Something lurched in her chest as it struggled to push back the heavy mists.

Rain. The wind smelled heavily of warm summer rain.

As Kubi shouted wrathfully again Lin threw her attention back to the spiders. They had backed Kubi against the granite frog. Fumiko had ensnared the stranger's fleet feet with a bolo of silk before the winds came. This the blade-eyed God woman sliced, darting around into the shelter of the granite frog as Shimizu hurled lance after lance of gleaming white silk. Caught in the suddenly screaming wind they shattered against the stone steps uselessly. Spiders cringed from the beating blustering air. Taking advantage of the gale Kubi sprinted out of the stone's shadow, knocking Fumiko backwards as she bolted by to tackle Shimizu. They all landed hard; Fumiko knocked her head as the other God women spilled down the wide steps in a scrambling thicket of arms. Lin's insides surged in horror as Kubi came to rest pinning the spider's many arms with her knees. Seizing Shimizu's helmet, the stranger wrenched it off so she could kiss the spider full on the lips. The soldier sagged visibly as Kubi pulled and pulled on her mouth as if sucking the life from her. As Fumiko sprang up from her stupor with a cry of outrage Kubi's head whipped around. With it came the long reaching length of her white neck. Kubi smashed her masked faced against the side of the Fumiko's head sending her spinning. As the handmaiden smashed down onto the stone steps the wind abated. Dizzily staggering to her feet Kubi lurched away searching for her pole weapon. Just as addled, Fumiko clambered up the stone steps to her sister's side.

" _Enough!"_ Lin thundered.

Startled by her shouts the kits began wailing. Ignoring their cries she stormed up the steps to stand between the warring women.

"Do you want to die, you dopes!? _Do you!?_ "

Jerking away from her in surprise, Kubi and Fumiko froze as she snarled at them.

"I'm not going to die here! So stay any fight if you want! Or get your heads on straight and come with me! Because Shurui is coming and she'll _kill_ all of us!"

Kubi frowned at her dourly. Then she snorted, smiling slyly revealing her lacquer black teeth.

"You must be Nigihayami's sister."

Knocked speechless by the stranger's knowledge, Lin gaped at her. Then they both turned and blinked overhead as the fog rolled back. It parted just in time for them to see the deadly meteor as it dropped from above. Silently the lance of silk fell in a blinding flash. Lin saw it. Kubi saw it. But too late.

It took the Kubi full in the chest at a speed so fast it ripped off her mask and helmet. Her long black hair flew out behind her as the bolt passed through in a gushing gout of red. As the lance splintered on the stones behind Kubi Lin cringed over her screaming kits. Whizzing shards pelted her back as the other God woman crashed to her knees beside her. Pulling a moue of annoyance, she touched the hole. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she toppled backwards.

As more hissing shadows arched overhead Lin caught the human, dragging her into the granite frog's shadow as a second and a third bolt of silk rained from the sky. Fumiko cut these down with uncertain strokes of short blades she held awkwardly. Wobbling on the step in front of her sister, she scanned the dark with determined red eyes. Until she saw the boats as the billowing fog parted and lifted. Lin saw Shurui perched on the prow of the front ship. She heard the black bell ring in the dark like a death knell. She couldn't even shout a warning even as her kits wailed.

Fumiko fell forward onto her knees as a blade of white turned red pierced her chest. Her blood ran down the edge, soaking down around her sister's hand. Shimizu stared incredulously as Fumiko collapsed forward yanking the knife from her fingers. Then Shimizu screamed. She screamed and screamed. Turning her back on the sight, Lin bent over her shrieking kits staring numbly.

She didn't stop the human as Kiri slipped down the stone steps. Lin watched mutely as Kiri cradled Kubi's head in her lap. The stranger raked the blades of her angry eyes over Lin's face. Then Kubi burdened her with words. They choked from her lips in lines of red that stained her pale moon face.

"Tell Nigihayami… My children are his now…"

Here Kubi drew the cutting point of her eyes overhead at Kiri. She stared at the human long and hard before she saw something. Then she softened with sorrow and the regret Lin couldn't begin to fathom. It took Lin a moment to see it as well. Kiri's eyes were a hawk's eyes; no longer the human's as she cried tears of bitter salt. Her tears couldn't save Kubi. Taking one of her shaking gloved hands, the stranger seized the gold cloth and ripped it from the folds of the human's wet white robes. Slowly they were staining red. Even the flashing gold silk was turning red as Kubi clutched the fabric to her chest. Then she lifted bloody fingers to caress the side of the human's face leaving long lines of red. Kiri breathed out a shuddering sob, clasping it to her cheek even as it wavered. Kubi's lids fluttered as her head drifted to the side, but she pronounced the words with grim strength.

"Finish… what… you… started…"

Then she was gone.

Lin stared uncomprehending at Kubi's white, white face. She was so numb she didn't cringe as the river soaked bat invaded Kiri's grief. Shoving the human away she smeared herself with Kubi's blood as she shook the corpse Bah Fuh rocked back onto her heels snuffling and gasping.

"You killed her! Shurui, you killed her!"

The bat was stricken.

" _You stupid jealous fool! She needed to live! You've changed everything!"_

Suddenly her milky eyes whipped up to stare overhead in abject terror.

"Now we'll both die at Garuda's hands!"

Lin froze as Shurui's shadow as it fell over them. Her cruel voice was quiet with disgust.

"For once you're right, bat, but that's because I am Garuda's hands."

Silk sang, blood splashed, and the bat's head tumbled from her shoulders. Lin jerked aside as a familiar white foot shoved the hideous creature's twitching body away. Suddenly the world was full of screams. Shimizu's screams. Her kits' screams. Lin stared as the world went cold and clear. Her hand reached for her obi. Then the wind came again like an explosion. Again it smelled of rain.

The squall detonated around her screaming its vicious tearing voices. Lin was dreaming again as Haku fell from the sky and landed at her feet. The stone stairs smashed under her folded knees under the force of his impact. It bowled her backwards onto the bloody stones. Even as he leaned over her, gently lifting her against him, instinct screamed in her face. Lin grabbed Kiri's wrist. The fingers of her only hand tightened like a vice. Weightlessness flooded through every corner of her body as the iron bar of his arm tightened. It spread through her hand into the human. Together, and with the bloody gold kimono furling beneath them, they launched into the sky.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Suzume was right. Waiting would be the death of him. All he could see in his mind's eyes was the tiny flash of yellow in a sea of churning black. He had left his sister adrift in the flood of spiders. Sick with the sight and humming with worry, he took up the fox's preoccupation with pacing. No doubt the God was somewhere below pacing a rut into the floorboards.

The curling wind of his passing chased him back and forth along the top floor veranda. Unbothered by wind undoing her knotted hair, the spider sat with him. Kuromi perched on the edge of the balcony swinging her feet over the side, otherwise Haku was sure Okesa would have come to joined him. He would have asked her to play him music because the thick silence was sharp and cutting. Haku, however, could not tell the spider to go. He did not want to think about her sitting somewhere alone in the dark. As he passed Haku glanced at the piece of silk she worried in her many hands. Bracing it against the rail, she burnished the pale white filaments harder and harder. She had etched sheaves of rice across its ivory surface. As the spider worked she smiled and hummed to herself.

Haku knew it was a flute for Suzume.

He could not bring himself to tell the child the fox would not want her gift.

He did not want to see the light of happiness go out in her luminous red eyes.

Behind him he heard Sen's light steps and he smelled the ink on her fingers.

"We finished. This is all that's left."

As she held up the single sheaf of paper Haku forced himself to stop. Turning, he found that the ghost had come as well. Tomoe floated beside Sen like a thin shadow melting away into nothing at the floor. His drooping shoulders told Haku that the spirit had no luck making amends with the cat. Kuromi scrambled up to kneel and bow politely as they approached.

"Good evening, Lady Sen. Good evening, Mr. Tomoe."

The ghost bowed to her twice as Kaonashi always did.

"Good evening, Miss Kuromi."

At least the specter and the spider seemed to have reached an accord. Coming over to sit and swing her feet beside the spider, Sen pulled the kerchief off her head and scratched her silver hair. It was growing long. Haku frowned as he found it full of tangles. Wishing he had a brush, he refrained from picking out the snarls with his fingers.

"You can just call me, Sen. Okay?"

Flashing Kuromi an easy smile, Sen made the spider blush. Haku craned his neck to see nothing but the dark hall behind them.

"Where are the cat and fox?"

Sen tossed a hand in a meaningless gesture barely hiding her annoyance.

"Sulking and being pissy."

Pretenses of the pleasantries they had exchanged died as her face went hard. Her iron gaze burned across the churning mists below.

"Anything yet?"

Glaring at the fog he half considered chasing it away.

"No. Not that I can see anything."

It had thickened until the point he could barely see the roofs of the dark rotting restaurants. The night river had turned completely white. Distantly the clock tower's glowing eye tinged the nearest mists moon yellow. There was no moon in the sky to comfort him tonight so the clock would have to suffice. Here Kuromi timidly offered important information, rekindling all the anxiety he felt earlier at the sight of the black host filling the streets.

"There will be more than what you saw. The rank accompanying the parade was probably a fourth of the garrison. Shimizu-sempai would never betray their full number. She's smarter than that."

Their number: Haku did not miss the change of frame in the spider's words. She no longer counted herself among their rank.

"How many then?" Sen was frowning.

 _"At least a hundred,"_ Tomoe whispered evenly, _"They filled nearly five train cars."_

At once his insides were cold again as he gripped the rail. One hundred soldiers. One hundred spiders. The thought threatened him with the loss of his meal. As if reading his mind Sen waved away his panic as if shooing a fly.

"Don't fixate on numbers. They have no idea what they're about to walk into."

Glancing at her from the corners of his eyes Haku watched a curl of smoke lift from the thin dour line of her mouth as her terrible iron eyes glared into the distance. Here Kuromi dropped her head and began anxiously polishing the flute. Her tiny voice was thin with dread.

"Will you kill them?"

Blinking rapidly, Sen went perfectly still. Haku continued to study her furtively. It was not lost on them that Kuromi knew the spiders. At once time the girl had called them sisters. But she had abandoned her loyalty to Shurui in exchange for a promise she did not realize was false. As Haku squirmed miserably again Sen burned him with her cold fire, making him shift uneasily and shrink from the edge of hardened resolve in her voice.

"Only if I have to."

Kuromi nodded. She wore a haggard expression no child should ever be forced to bear.

"I understand. I will do the same."

Haku cringed from her dutiful acceptance. Could he do the same? Terrible doubt filled his heart with shards of ice as uncertainty quaked in his weakling knees. They all startled as Tomoe glided up to the balcony peering into the distance.

" _Kohaku-sama! Something moves in the fog!"_

At once he whirled with his heart in his throat. But as he scanned the shifting vapor as it offered up many fantastic twisting shapes.

"Where!?"

The ghost pointed with a long thin black finger.

 _"The harbor at the stone stairs!"_

Haku, however, could see nothing. Cursing his weak mortal eyes he backed away into the empty room still glaring at the fog.

"Apologies," he announced shortly, "Please hang on to something."

Wafting and arching his arms round and round over his head Haku sank low over his heels. A wind coiled in their wake as he blew a breath between his pursed lips. At once he caught it with his fingers. Soon the air churned at his call and he whipped it into a flurry spinning away on the tips of his toes. The wind whipped with him, happy to follow. It throbbed and frolicked wickedly, making mischief as the sliding doors at his back jump and shimmy in their tracks. Again and again he blew, dancing and whirling in the empty space filling it with the now raging screaming gale that tore the sliders open as it surged around him. His feet barely touched the ground as it lifted him, surging in his humming blood and thundering in his pulse. Haku gasped ecstatically as it blew out of him; dancing almost for joy as it billowed his armor bound sleeves and hems, making his long hair into a snapping pennant. Spinning and spinning, almost lost in the fervor of the invisible twists, he hauled the massive current forward giving it free reign.

It whistled and shrilled around him dragging him with it. Panting and gasping he slammed against the balcony banister as it towed and pulled. The wind wanted to take him with it, but he could not go. Hands had him, anchoring him to the boards at the wind of his making screamed by. If not for Kuromi Haku was sure he would have been dragged over. Haku did not look at her. He watched anxiously as his wind poured down onto the restaurant district. It crashed against the lip of fog. Like a wave in reverse, the vapor peeled back in a wall of white. Still the gale parted and dragged the mists with thousands of its invisible fingers. Slowly it rolled back the obscuring vapor and revealed distant writhing figures.

 _"There is a boat, Kohaku-sama!"_ Tomoe cried in dismay, _"On the harbor steps!"_

Haku jerked bolt upright as he caught flashes of metal in the dark as well. Distantly the crack of metal on metal ricocheted off the dim walls below. As the fog continued to divide and dissipate he could see more boats approaching. And a scream echoed from afar; a woman's scream. It struck him like a thunderbolt sending another gust of wind curling out of his body. Then Sen stood bolt upright wearing an expression of stark terror. Silvery white fire erupted from her hands. It crawled up her arms, snatching her hair into a dazzling flickering halo around her head. The boards beneath her feet, the banister in her hands, and the low eve all scorched black. Fantastic blossoms of white red fire blew from her lips in licking tendrils as she spoke.

"It's changing!" She intoned in horror, "Everything is changing!"

Haku knew she had afflicted herself with foresight but never had he seen them come upon her. It was a terrifying sight. He threw himself away dragging Kuromi with him as she showered them with embers. Shaking with every word as the ghost of her premonition hummed in his blood. Stupidly he stared as she scrambled at her waist in a panic and ripped out Sengen's mirror. It took him a moment to recognize the spiteful circle of silver.

"Sen, no!"

Haku barely heard himself shout as he reached to stop her. But Sen did not listen. Turning the mirror over in her hands the polished surface filled her face with reflected light so bright it washed away her features. Her fire guttered loudly and hissed as if someone had tossed a wave of seawater had broken through its surface to douse her in the face. But that was the last he saw as he screwed his eyes shut. His teeth snapped together in dread as the angry sapphires eyes of the dragon writhing on the raised silver relief of its back plate winked and blinked before turning to glare right at him. His breath blew up from his lips in a plume of frosty white as he gasped. Sengen's jewel burned against his chest. It froze as the marrow in his bones turned to ice, pinning him in place robbing the world of warmth. More icy sludge pumped through his veins as his heart slammed against the roof of his mouth. Clamping his hand over Kuromi's eyes he pulled her with him.

"Do not look!"

Back into the bath house interior they fled the mirror; away from the searing heat of Sen's flames. The spider's fingers were tightening vices of pain as they gripped every inch of his arms.

"What's happening!?"

Kuromi's voice was shrill with confusion but she held him up as he stumbled blindly. He had no time to explain. He had no time to think as Sen shouted the names.

"Lin and Kiri!"

In that moment he knew. He knew and he responded. Turning his back on the balcony he sprinted away chased by terrible premonition. Confused, Kuromi lost her hold on him and he ripped free of her hands.

" _Kohaku-sama!"_ Tomoe shouted after him in distress.

The springy boards vibrated beneath his feet as he pounded past Suzume and Okesa.

"Dragon! What is it!?"

As the fox called after him he ran faster and faster. He sprinted through the empty rooms heading for the thick rounded pillar. Haku caught it with his hands and whipped round its center using it like a fulcrum. His wind chased at his back as he vaulted out the side windows into thin air. Haku's eyes watered with speed he punched the point of his umbrella ahead of him. It opened with a snap at once caught in his curving gale. Pointing his toes Haku swung his body hard, arching wide and soaring toward the harbor. His stomach surged into his throat as weightlessness jerked him skyward.

The screaming wind spiraled him higher and higher. So high no one below would be able to see him; so high he could barely see himself. Hovering there like a hawk Haku searched the place where the hills met the river. But whatever Sen had seen in Sengen's mirror did not betray them. He lifted higher on a spike of wind as he caught sight of the tiny dot of yellow. Had she been any other color Haku was not sure he would have seen her. He was sinking now. Falling faster and faster driven by the iron cold vice clamped around his heart. Red was spreading around the tiny spot of yellow. He watched in horror as it ran in a curtain across the granite steps. Free falling now he let dread pull him from the sky. But in the last moments he set another burst of vicious screaming wind free. It compressed beneath him, absorbing and transferring his impact. Still, the ground shattered beneath his hands and feet as a shock wave ricocheted outward.

Time stood still as if he had compressed the button on the strange watch Onsen gifted him. Sound and feeling went with it as Lin lifted her face to stare up at him. Her burned features were spattered with gore and bits of shredded spider silk. She was haggard and haunted by such suffering and feral terror they bordered on madness. But her face cleared as she saw him. Amazement wiped her twisted brow perfectly smooth. Her autumn colored eyes went round as her mouth fell open in awe. She had never looked more beautiful to him.

Then he saw Kubi.

Long and slow the air hissed from his lungs between his clenched teeth. He stared and stared and stared. There was a hole in her chest as there had been in Karasu's. A hole he could not fill and make whole. The pale blades of her empty eyes stared overhead endlessly. They would never see him again. He, however, could still see. Haku cut his gaze across the stunned rank of spiders he had sent sprawling to the ground. Then he found the one he sought right at his feet. Sprawled backwards on the bloody stones Shurui was staring up at him in utter shock. In that moment Haku knew with absolute clarity the choice that lay before him. In the slim seconds that remained to him he could save his sister. Or he could kill this spider and put to rest all her terrible machinations.

In the end there was no choice.

Lifting the umbrella over his head Haku bent and wrapped his other arm around Lin's middle. As he did he brought his face down to the same level of Shurui's. He was so close his breath stirred her wild hair making the spider queen cringe. Dread eroded the spider's pale and strangely beautiful face as he stared silently. Haku was not sure what she saw in him that frightened her so. He was not afforded any more time to consider it. His vicious wind came screaming back. It climbed his body with its shredding talons. Up it ripped him, back into the endless black sky out of reach of every spider. As he did he took back what was stolen and more. Haku learned in that moment he could carry more than one, but barely.

Somehow he kept them aloft, struggling to control their fall as Aburaya loomed large. Blowing gust after puffing gust he robbed his lungs of breath as he fought the pulling plunge. Wet red banisters ran beneath him as if guiding him to safety on the wide planks of the bridge. But they foundered as Lin lost her hold on Kiri's arm. Haku and Lin cried out a duet of dismay as gravity reclaimed the human. But as she plummeted without a sound shadows ripped across the bridge. Tomoe surged up out of the dark and caught the human. Haku gasped again as they jerked high only to sink on the spike of his panic. Blown off course, they wheeled wide and the bridge disappeared below them. It was replaced by a swallowing black drop into nothing.

Unsettled by the change of weight, Haku lost his grip on the gale and Lin as well. He cried out again as she slipped right through his grip until his desperate hand caught her wrist. Staring at her through his wiping hair, his insides went cold at the look of terror on her face. But as her only hand tightened on his wrist something kindled in her maple leaf eyes. Her face cleared as she gazed up at him suddenly unafraid. Even as they hung precariously in thin air she looked up at him with eyes full of faith.

Such a spark of strength surged in Haku's heart knowing this. But still, he could not breathe. His chest burned and ached. He knew with terrible certainty he had given his all to the wind and they were about to fall. Again with perfect clarity he knew he could not carry them both. So he took his umbrella and closed her fingers around it. Then he let her go as the black green tiles of Aburaya's roof loomed behind her.

She screamed and shot aloft even as he fell like a stone into the swallowing dark.

* * *

 **SEN**

As before, at first nothing happened as she stared at the glassy silver surface. The face that reflected back at her was a stranger's. The foreboding glare of the angry woman she found in the mirror frightened her. But it wasn't Sengen. It took Sen a moment to realized she was looking at herself.

Then the blinding flash hit her eyes like sharp shards of shattered glass.

Sen recoiled as it threw her backwards, but this time she didn't scream. Her feet left the ground as she fell and kept falling. Back she plunged through open air at a dizzying speed until she smashed through the surface of the ocean. Stunned by the shock, the salty and frigid water sucked her down, pulling her under. Again the pressure of the angry water crushed in on her, stinging inside her nose, filling her lungs with heaving fire. All the while the light remained inside her eyes, angrily twisting, digging deeper and deeper into her head; until it exploded into a flood of shapes, smells, and unimaginable impressions so intensely vivid it felt like her head was going to burst open under the pressure from the searing burning seething pain. Then the merciless sea rushed in to consume everything it'd showed. There wasn't enough room in her head for the ocean and the visions. But then they popped like sea foam. The visions ripped away leaving her with nothing but cold cavernous dark.

Frantically Sen fought to hold onto them even as the mocking waves surged away. Whereas she failed to retrieve the visions she caught the water instead. Like a wild thing it took off dragging her with it. As the ocean rolled her sideways into a churning spin, smashing her back against the familiar sandy bottom, she forced herself upright and broke the surface with a heaving gasp. Coughing and gagging, Chihiro sat up in the surf as the waves hissed backwards sullenly. She ignored them as they lapped and surged around her knees snapping with effervescent curses. Stunned, she rocked back onto her heels staring madly at the bow of stars in the indigo sky because the inside of her head was utterly empty. In the terrible cold moment she decided not knowing was worse than knowing.

Scrambling upright she stared stupidly at the hidden Cove at the foot of the old village. It was blanketed with thick drifts of freshly fallen snow. But even as she was faced with the frozen sight steam billowed out of her body. Her sight blurred as she screwed her eyes shut against the burn of salt. As she foundered in the water searching for him, he spoke from directly behind her.

"You never learn, do you boss?"

Whirling and falling into the splashing shallows, Sen stared at Hidé. She cringed, shielding her eyes from the iridescent seashell flash of his hard white skin and the unnerving glow of his sparkling effervescent sapphire eyes. He was a God after all. And he was so beautiful looking at him hurt. Again his mild voice echoed inside her head.

"I told you nothin's set in stone."

She ebbed and flowed, towed breathlessly on the whispering surf of his voice. Shaking violently, she flinched as his frozen hands pulled her upright. His touch burned worse than the fire inside her head even as he gently smoothing her tangles hair from her face. All the same Sen forced herself to choke the words in a hoarse gasp.

"Lin and Kiri?"

All of a sudden angry waves crashed against his back. She gasped and shivered as they broke around her welling up under her chin and lifting her feet from the eroding shifting sand. But the iron grip of his cold fingers moored her in place. Hidé's voice cracked like the distant roar of the waves thundering on the shielding sea cliffs at her back.

"I don't know. She won't let me see."

Reluctantly he returned the mirror to her hands face down. He trapped it between her fingers as if he wanted nothing more than to take it back.

"This is yours now. I won't let her hurt you. But you know what she'll do if you look."

Sen stared blankly for several heartbeats as the echoing nothing in her head ached like a wound. Then she turned over the mirror and looked into the waiting spiteful blue eyes. With a gasp she folded forward into the singing premonitions. Simultaneously she was yanked through the past, the present, and the future. They came upon her with hideous half clarity making absolutely no sense.

Out of the smoke a train charged by in a screaming hiss on chugging steel wheels.

It dissolved into curling ashes crawling with the beetle black bodies of thousands of spiders.

The bits of cinders pulled long into great shuttling looms rattling under fleets of white hands.

The humming threads warped overhead rebuilding Aburaya looming red walls.

Then the bath house rippled and curved as it crashed over her like a wave.

Yanked forward by an unseen hand the tips of her toes burned against the boards of the bridge.

Blue curtains billowed as the front arch snapped closed around her like a hungry mouth.

As it swallowed she smashed through familiar doors and skidded across the bloody floor.

A heavy corpse fell across her back reeking of death making her gag and scramble to get away.

Another and another body fell on her, grinding her cheek into sticky red soaked boards.

She was drowning in the dead bodies as blood was in her mouth.

Then yellow green fire detonated all around her filling her eyes with stinging smoke.

Sen burned as well, fighting and clawing at the ground as she struggled uselessly to free herself.

Then Kiri walked past through the flames in Yubaba's office wearing a white funeral kimono.

Her white eyes was on fire too as she burned and blistered.

Dragging a gleaming gold garment out of the flames she held it up high.

The fantastic flashing fabric billowed and spread in the heat.

Then she tore it in two.

Blood welled out of the split seams in a gushing welling torrent that turned the fire to smoke.

Then the smoke became swirling mists as the blood splashed against the gray granite stone.

As Kiri toppled forward onto her knees Sen could see through a hole in her chest.

Behind her was the stolid stone frog that kept watch over the night river's harbor.

It was chipped and pitted, plastered with whipping tendrils of spider silk.

No longer trapped, Sen scrambled away as Kubi seized her by the throat with sharkskin gloves.

The eerie God woman glared with dagger eyes through the dour oculars of her moon mask.

Red ran from its porcelain lips as she squeezed and squeezing with her blood stained fingers.

The lips of the mask moved mouthing words Sen could barely make out as she choked.

Then her hands released as Kubi sagged back, pulled away by two three thin shadows.

Gasping and scrambling away, Sen stared stupidly up at the sad solemn faces she knew.

Reika; Manami; and finally Chihiro.

Startled and astonished, Sen stared at the frightened face of the girl she'd once been.

As they led Kubi, Chihiro turned back and pointed as her brown eyes welled with tears.

That girl was always crying; crying and sniveling and whining.

She mouthed the words Kubi had spoken soundlessly.

They were the same words Kamaji once barked at her down in Aburaya's boiler room.

 _Finish what you started._

Turning trembling with terror, Sen glanced over her shoulder from the corners of her eyes.

All at once a monstrous wheel bore down on her too huge to see.

The bass roar of its thunderous voice rattled her very bones shaking the whole world.

She stared in disbelief as it smashed against a massive stalagmite tree of white limestone.

The Wheel of Yamanote obliterated the spreading pillar and got lost in swirling clouds of dust.

All at once the distant domes ceiling of the cavern fractured in monstrous spreading cracks

Sen threw herself backwards clawing at the stone floor as it buckled and dropped to crush her.

But she kept falling and falling and falling until she landed hard.

All the air wheezed out of her lungs as she stared overhead at the strange twilight sky.

A massive network of wooden pillars curve up into the sky beside her.

They were familiar. She knew them and she didn't.

Gods of every shape and size cavorted across the lofty veranda taunting her rudely.

They hooted and haunted the massive structure's sweeping gables and eaves.

She lay there hiding under her arms with her pulse still screaming in her ears.

Fireworks popped and burst in pale pink and green sparklers over distant spreading eaves.

Sen flinched from them and from the humans who suddenly leaned over her in a tight ring.

Kenka and Jae and Megumi. Fuu and Kana and Shouta.

They were all wearing summer yukata, pulling her to her feet holding her firmly as Sen sagged.

Suddenly they changed, turning into kami.

Gohan and Sumirei and Kitten. Grandpa Bean and Tsuke and Bozu.

The yokai turned her around and around in a dizzy circle as night soaked swiftly across the sky.

Suddenly hands crushed her fingers and it was Aki who danced her around in a frenzied circle as foxfires crackled above them.

Cracked and broken by endless war the face of her red chest plate bore a gleaming gold wheel.

The mad half-fox leapt and whirled dragging her with her until she could hardly keep up.

Suddenly spiders in armor joined the feral spokes of the wheel of their clasped hands.

Sen recognized Fumiko but not the horsey scar-faced giant of a God woman beside her.

Strangely it was Bozu who grabbed Sen, pulling her away from the dog and spiders.

His single eye strangely luminous as he shushed loudly making the kami flee.

Whipping her around and yanked her to stillness, Bozu pointed into the distance.

Fires burned on the dim mountains; bright points of red light twisting into eerie patterns.

The red welled and spread until the hands of her friends disappeared.

Lurching forward she staggered through the shading arches of thousands of tori.

At once she was running, running as fast as she could beneath the endless red gates.

All around her trees twisted and creaked in a violent rain soaked wing.

They turned pointing their branches up into the depths of the mountain.

A squat thatched roof of a house rose out of the parting trees beside a hissing waterfall.

Out front Zeniba sat at her spinning wheel pumping the whirring spindle with her foot.

Perched on its center plank the gilded skull from her geihobako chattered its teeth loudly.

Glancing at her slyly, the old witch pointed at the ball gigantic Baby Bo was bouncing.

But it wasn't a ball. It was a severed head.

Sen scrambled back in terror as it escaped and came bouncing toward her.

Shurui's head spat venom gnashing its needled teeth as it loped around her.

Then it burst into flames, floating up into the air to become the sun.

Still the spider's smoking body scrambled onward spilling and spraying blood.

Red spattered across Kohaku's face as he cut her down with the edge of Lin's flat sword.

He dropped the blade and fell to his knees at her feet staring in horror at his bloody hands.

The red turned black as it soaked into him.

The blot she'd seen on his finger spread up the veins in his right arm as he screamed.

It consumed him as he transformed into a monster she knew all too well.

The Forgotten reached for her with obsidian claws as golden wings lifted behind it.

Garuda seized it by the throat hauling the thing up off the ground.

Sen rang like a bell and knew the gold skinned God even though she'd never seen him.

Yellow green fire plumed as Garuda tore the Forgotten in two as if he was made of paper.

The Garuda was Kiri and her white eyes burned and burned in the dark.

Then her eyes were yellow ringed with red and silted vertically like a hawk's.

All the while the black shreds of what Kohaku had been lifted around her in ashes.

Only now after all the grisly sights she'd seen did Sen scream.

She screamed and screamed and screamed reaching for the embers as they died in her hands.

As the eagle ensnared her with its talons its predatorial eyes glared down at her wrathfully.

Then its eyes were blue and Sengen parted the bird's burning wings into crashing waves of surf.

Even as the fizzling frozen tide churned and welled up to overwhelmed her it subsided.

Spinning giddily in its pull Sen ebbed up into sandy shallows that suddenly boiled and steamed.

The reek of sulfur replaced the bite of salt as glowing eddying mushi popped into existence.

Massive mossy roots surged up out of the sand and pouring water swelling and dividing.

They carried her with them higher and higher until the sea faded into torrid mists.

Glossy emerald leaves shimmied and shivered as they spread overhead in a rustling chorus.

The spicy sweet smell of camphor twined around her body as the branches dipped to grasp her.

Lifting Sen onto her feet they turned her around to the bark faced Goddess with eyes of flame.

The green leaves of her hair burned in the heat of her gaze in gouts of sweet smelling smoke.

Inari's voice pealed inside her head like a great brass bell.

Sen rang from head to toe with the words, vibrating so vehemently she rattled apart.

 _ **Finish what you started.**_


	38. Chapter 38

**HAKU**

Haku fell so fast he scarcely felt himself fall. The glowing gold lattices of the verandas rushed past him so close but so far. He briefly glimpsed the red ribbon of the bridge as it hurl by. Then something hit him hard from the side so hard his teeth snapped. At first he thought it might be the ground and that startled him awake. But he was still falling even as invisible arms tightened across his torso. With a bone jarring lurch they snapped out of free fall so firmly Haku bit his tongue.

Suddenly he was no longer falling. He was swinging, gathering such speed his insides lurched and protested. His eyes watered as they arced through the thick misty dark. He watched in silent awe as the cliffs and the bath house foundation ghosted by. The ground unfolded beneath them only for a moment. His heart fluttered as he saw the gleaming lines of the train tracks. A massive boulder sat in the middle of the raised rock foundation just outside the tunnel. He lost sight of Seki no Taro as up and down became confused. No longer caught by gravity's pull they surged upward with singing velocity. Higher and higher his heart rose in his throat as at once they were flying again. Haku blinked rapidly as they sailed up into the light pouring out of Aburaya's windows. Locking her legs around his waist and gripping his arms with hers Kuromi squeeze firmly.

"Hold on!" She shouted in his ear.

Something akin to a squeak issued from his lips as silk furled above them. Again he jerked in her grip as a parachute billowed over their heads. But the long line of silk stretched taut beneath them humming as it vibrated.

"How!?" He choked over and over insensibly as they drifted in the empty air.

"You fell," She explained thinly, "I caught you."

Leaving her parachute to pull the line tight hand over hand the spider climbed down slowly. As he dangled beneath her Haku could see the bridge clearly. Suzume was hauling on another long rope of white silk as he fought to tow his wife from the sky. Pulling as if his life depended on it the God hauled on the line with tremendous heaves. Spinning like a top Lin clung to the crook of his umbrella drifting down like a kite. She did not let go even as Suzume caught her by the waist and pulled her into his embrace. As he anchored her to the bridge with his body all the color and vitality returned to him. Bright crimsons and flashing gold erupted across the once sickly sallow canvas of his robes. Haku's heart swelled in his burning aching chest until it felt as though it had burst. Bittersweet pain spread through his tiny brittle body as he heaved and gasped.

Then another flash of red gold attracted his attention. Looking down he found Sen leaned over the bridge's banister where he first saw her that day. Bristled from head to toe Okesa had Sen by the belt pulling back as she leaned forward further. Sen's arms were open as she reached and reached for him. As she caught him, yanking and pulling insistently, Kuromi released him. Backwards they tumbled, making the cat scramble aside with a hiss as they landed hard. His ears were ringing as he lay gasping, drowning all over again as adrenaline left him feeble.

" _I cannot breathe!"_ Haku gasped in a panic. _"I cannot…! I cannot…!"_

Spinning and light-headed he sagged as white sparklers filled his graying vision. His head throbbed and hammered as tremendous pressure claws at the inside of his skull. Again that thin rasping squeak issued from his dry lips as he tore at his throat.

"Give him room, child! Back! All of you, back! Especially you cat!"

Haku heard distantly as the fox barked with commanding ingratitude. Someone was yanking at his armor. Haku did not have the strength to fight as they pulled his gorget and breastplate free. He was drowning; sinking even as the boards beneath his back dissolved. Falling and falling as he dwindled on the knife's edge of unconsciousness.

"Breathe, Kohaku!"

Haku's eyes flew wide as a burning hand slapped against the bare skin of his chest. Heaving in a great shuddering breath he arched against the boards. It felt as if a stone had been lifted from his aching ribs. Cool sweet air rushed in to soothe and sate his suffering lungs. He held it in for fear he might never take another. Then Suzume slapped him hard with his other hand even as his first continue to burn. Roughly the fox grabbed his chin with charcoal scented fingers, forcing Haku to look at him.

" _I said breathe!_ "

Stunned, Haku stared up through the ink black curtain of the God's ragged hair. The fox's face tight with concern and his gold eyes pale with fear. Doing as the God bade him he let the breath out in a rush and dragged in another.

"Again!" Suzume commanded. "And again!"

In and out Haku breathed each sobbing breath until the fox yanked back his hands. Then the God bared his teeth and he leaned over him as if to bite.

" _Idiot!_ After all this talk of _waiting_ and being _patient_! You are no good to any of us _dead_!"

Tense against the boards Haku stared from the corners of his eyes and frowned stubbornly. He rasped the words without apology as a weak breeze stirred his hair.

"We would have fallen..."

"Suzume!"

Haku's insides went perfectly still as he recognized the flinty voice. The fox flinched, at once contrite even as he turned toward the admonishing voice reaching with his blackened hands. Haku stared as Lin folded up beside him. At once he was staring, drawing his eyes across the puckered scar skin of the terrible burns on her temple and neck. She was thin; far, far too thin. Her long narrow face was gaunt and bruised with suffering. She scowled at him making her brow tight and etched with anger. But her large autumn-colored eyes were soft and bright. She turned her face into his touch as he lifted a hand to touch her wild wind hair. Haku's mouth trembled as her true name slipped from his lips in the barest whisper.

"Hayashimi!"

Lin crushed of him with the hard bar of her only arm as she bent to hug him. Then Haku startled as something between them gave a squawk of protest. As she jerked back he stared at her belly as the bundles bound there in spider silk wriggled vigorously. He lurched up onto his elbows staring at them askance not knowing what they were. With her only hand Lin peeled back the edge of the swaddling. Haku froze in awe, sucking in and holding a breath at the tiny lives hidden within. He had never seen such tiny noses, such tiny hands with such tiny fingernails. As she gazed down at her kits Lin's stony face softened in ways Haku never thought possible.

"This is our daughter Kokoro. She was born first."

She whispered softly while folding back another edge of silk.

"And this is our son Makoto. He is bigger because he's greedy."

As he stared at the newborn God children the pain was back in his heart. It welled in his chest in the place where the hole that had killed Kubi and Karasu had been. Grief and joy stained him simultaneously as the conflicting emotions soaked him through. Life and death; they were an unending circle in which they were all trapped. God and human alike; none could escape. That truth did nothing to ease the suffering echoing inside the hole in his heart. Haku barely heard as Lin introduced their children. He barely saw as the fox seized his wife in a rough embrace. At once Lin was annoyed and embarrassed as her wan cheeks went pink. She, however, did not protest. Staring off over the crown of Lin's wind tussled head the fox wore a wild expression of affection. Suzume choked on each word as his gold eyes glimmered with withheld tears.

"You…! You have my gratitude, Nigihayami Kohaku!"

It took him a moment to realize the God had spoken his name. It took him a moment longer to realize that Suzume had thanked him. Never had he heard the fox thank anyone, not even Reika. Closing his eyes Haku sagged as white cold sweet relief of absolution washed through him. He was thief no more. But all the good things died in his heart as Ikiri spoke in a shredded whisper.

"They're coming."

Ripping his eyes open Haku shrank from the haggard human female as his skin crawled. There was something wrong with her; something very, very wrong. So wrong he almost forgot the spiders.

"We need to get Lin and Haku inside," Sen urged hurriedly.

Strong hands had him. Kuromi was hoisting him upright as if he weighed nothing. Hooking one of his arms over her shoulder as other hands claimed his armor and his umbrella. Dutifully the spider followed in Sen's shadow and Haku had no choice but to follow. Kuromi carried him through the billowing blue curtains and across the empty shining expanse of the main floor. Blinking against the glaring light pouring down from the large lanterns Haku found the front and back stairs missing. But the balconies remained high above ringing the room with their now thick reinforced balustrades. The paper sliders had been replaced by thick shutters of blackened iron that stood stolidly as if awaiting an impending fight. Back Kuromi carried him, back to the gleaming gold and green murals of mossy pines that stretched up the distant walls. Springing ahead of them of them Sen skidded to a stop at a seeming random board only to pound the surface.

It popped open revealing the stairwell inside. Darkness drowned his sight in shivering black as they tromped up the narrow stair. The smell of musty tatami and paper glue swirled around him as sliders snicked open. Gently Kuromi lowered him onto a futon only to jerk back as Sen roughly replaced her. Her face was lost to him as her head eclipsed the hanging lantern. The phoenix face perched on her brown gleam red-gold in the glancing light. As if she already knew what was there she had his right hand and had ripped the bloody glove. She stared at the stain of black on his finger and her bright pale eyes went blank.

At once Haku hurriedly yanked his hand away to hide his tightly curled fist. But she had seen! She knew and she also knew he had lied! As she hung there Sen stared through him seeing something he could not begin to fathom. Haku cringed in anticipation of her anger only to be met with silence. That, however, was far worse than her fury. He jerked again as shadows suddenly rushed up to fill the doorway.

" _Lady Sen, come at once! You must see this!"_

As if forgetting him and the curse he now carried, she was on her feet standing over him looking away with that terrible iron expression. Dressed in sturdy dull black-red plates of iron silk armor, wearing the strange flame quilted indigo garb, she produced her bow and ringing quiver like magic from the humming air. Slinging them across her back with practiced moves, she shoved Sengen's knife through the belt at her waist. He hardly knew this embattled woman who tied back her quicksilver hair with a frayed and sweat-stained cloth. Haku watched the stranger he loved so dearly disappear behind the gleaming red-gold face of a phoenix. She sprinted off in the wake of a ghost ringing and ringing until even the sound of her bells disappeared.

"Please, beloved!" Suzume entreated in exasperation, "I must go with the child!"

Throwing his attention sideways he stared mutely at Suzume and Lin. Squatting on the tatami, the fox's wife had seized him by the hand. She was anchoring him in place with an obdurate expression as he leaned away pulling uselessly. Blue-green with anxiety Suzume threw his other hand at Ikiri.

"Watch the human, Hayashimi. I do not know what to make of her."

Haku jolted as he found the sickly former shrine maiden slumped in the corner behind him. Her face was lost in the short hanging curtain of her salt-and-pepper hair as he bowed over the blood stained length of gold silk wadded up in her tightly clutched hands. All the shadows in the room seemed to pool and clamber behind her making the small hairs on his arms stand up. His insides scrambled about in instinctive horror. Skittering sideways away to climb up onto the wall with the fluttering flock of her free hands, Kuromi hissed a terrible name between her clenched needled teeth.

" _Tatarigami!"_

Lin surged to her feet and whirled toward the spider throwing something. A squat dagger sank to the hilt in the wall itself inches from Kuromi's nose. The spider fell with a gasp dropping his armor and retreating to the doorway as Lin shouted.

"Don't call her that!"

As Lin released him to throw the knife Suzume bolted. Hesitating in the doorway paling with dismay the fox threw his piercing gold eyes to him.

"Deal with this, dragon!"

Then the blasted fox turned and ran before his wife could catch him again leaving him to tender the mess he had left behind. Momentarily crestfallen, Lin whirled to look after him reaching with her only hand. She drew herself up into flinty stillness then she turned for her knife. Forcing himself upright, Haku lurched against the wall and scrambled to jerk the knife from the pulpy boards, withholding it as he stopped Lin with a quelling hand. Fury smoldered in her maple eyes as she came up short. But she wheeled away, never losing momentum. She retreated to the opposite side of the room pacing and patting her kits as they began to cry, startled awake by her earlier shouting. All the while her eyes remained fixed on the knife in his hands with predatorial concentration making him break out in a cold sweat.

"Give it back. It was Ume's."

Haku blinked, sparing a glance at the short blade in his hand. Then he recognized the dead yuna's blade. It was all that remained of her. Solemnly he placed the knife on the table between them sparing a harried glance at Kuromi. He found her she peering anxiously around the slider. Then the blade of Lin's feral stare wheeled round to the spider making her flinch.

"I remember you, spider. You and your sister."

Kuromi bowed as if suddenly bent by a weight of sorrow, carefully creeping forward so she could help him back into his armor. Silently Lin sank to a seat on one of the cushion watching them with her flinty unwavering gaze. No longer feeling naked, Haku shoved his umbrella back into the hidden folds of his tatter cloak only to stumble and catch himself on the frame of the sliding doors. Throwing his harried gaze back over his shoulder he stare long and hard at Lin as she sat in the dark staring after him with solemn silent twilight eyes. She was cradling her only arm around her kits patting and the bulges beneath the wide bands of silk crisscrossed across her stomach.

He wanted to say something. But what could he say? Instead Haku turned and ran.

Like a silent shadow Kuromi followed in his wake. Again she had to take his arm and pull him up the remaining stairs as he winded quickly. His blood and flesh and bone did not rebound easily. Haku did not like to be reminded of how brittle his small mortal body had become. Leaning on the spider heavily he lurched through the shadow chocked empty sitting rooms staring at the line of figures gathered ahead. They stood at the rail of the highest balcony the front of the bath house had to offer. Okesa's baffled yowl echoed back as he drew close. Craning and bobbing her head she stood on her toes to peer off into the dark pricking and swiveling her velvet black ears as her tail lashed and flicked.

"What's they doin', neh? It don' make no sense!"

Suzume growled at her in exasperation.

"Cat! You waste your breath! I know no more than you!"

Silently Sen and Tomoe stared without comment. Stumbling up to the bar panting and gasping Haku threw his eyes out into the dark. His insides went cold and sick as found the restaurant district crawling with spiders. But something was amiss. This became clear as the enraged shouts and flinty clashes of battle filtered from afar. He breathed the obvious in a hushed rush as confusion tightened his burning chest.

"They are fighting each other!"

Haku startled and cringed as a thicket of spiders clambered and spilled up over the lip of the stairs illuminated by the tall sentry lantern at the opposite side of the bridge. They broke and shuffled back from the warring figures that clashed and smashed against each other at the heart of their scuttling shifting host. Haku recognized the massive lobed dome of Shurui's helm as it caught and glimmered in the lantern light like the wet hull of some monstrous insect. But the spider queen had gone on the offensive faced with the ferocious attack of another tall spider who matched her in height, speed, and strength. Even with one limp arm trussed to her side the warrior was more than formidable.

"Shimizu-sempai!"

Kuromi breathed in terror beside him. White faced and shaking she climbed up to perch on the banister for a better view. Haku did not know why Shurui's captain had forsaken her. He did not care. All he knew was the soldier's limbs and body became a deadly blur of slashing hacking white winking spider silk. Silk bombs exploded in puffs of billowing filaments as errant shards shattered against stone sending up sprays of splinters as they tore through the nearby ruined buildings. The other soldier spiders scrambled and ducked; throwing themselves away from the collateral damage of the fight but for some reason they did not flee. Hard pressed to escape herself, Shurui sprinted up the trunk of the pine tree defying gravity as she whipped her long lithe body through the air hurling down lance after lance at the offending soldier. Only to land and perch atop the sentry lantern making the ground dissolve into plumes of shattering rock as she threw lance after lance at her former guard.

Leaning father and farther over the rail Haku stared madly into the dark. He watched Shimizu produce hand over hand a massive scythe of silk. With it she hewed the lantern off at its base with a single stroke. The lantern gave a violent lurch then it shivered sideways. Wobbling with a strangled cry Shurui sprang sideways into the pine tree. Again Shimizu's sickle screamed as it cut through the thick trunk. With a great moan the pine and the lantern smashed against each other only to trundle over. Shurui launched herself onto the cobbles at the foot of the bridge as they came crashing down. Light fizzled and crackled as it caught the paper and wood. Bright blue tongues of flame and curling smoke erupted in the dark. Illuminated by the feral godfire even from a distance he could clearly see the terror clearly. Women's shrieks echoed as the blue light caught the white faces beneath their flared visors. The walls behind them crawled with the massive shadows of bulbous spiders as the unlucky vanguard scattered onto the bridge forming another ragged uneven ring around Shurui as out of the smoke Shimizu charged still wielding the wicked black of her scythe.

As Shurui back peddled her black fan flashed and rang. Haku jolted bolt upright at the hideous ring of the black iron bell. Spiders lurched and jerked into her wake with shrieks of terror as they moved against their will. But they put up a pitiful defense against Shimizu's bloodlust. Shimizu knocked one over the banister with a savage back sweep. Her free hands caught and hurled another. But she had only so many hands to guard against them. The former captain was forced to cut down two of her sisters lest they stab her with blades! As she did she howled in enraged and beleaguered misery.

Bile rose in his throat as he realized in horror the other spiders could not flee. Shurui held them with her bells, sending her daughters to slaughter at the hands of their sister. Staggered by the unexpected display of brutality Haku looked away out over the sea of black. Sen had her bow as she made for the interior balustrade calling quietly to the other Gods.

"Inside, everyone."

At a loss for what else to do they followed her to the long hall hidden behind the iron shutters. The fox came up short as Kuromi appeared at his feet bowing and holding up the finished flute.

"For you, Suzume-san!"

He stared between the spider and the instrument in mute amazement before snatching it from her fingers. Planting a hand on her head in a gentle gesture, he wove around Kuromi following in Sen's wake. Catching one of Kuromi's arms Haku pulled the spider up and towed her after him. Distant shouts and screams were filtering in from the main door. Sen had crept out onto the south facing balcony and was whispering as she pointed with one tine of her bow at the bottom of the atrium.

"Tomoe. Wait till Shurui is inside then shut the doors. Keep the spiders off the walls."

He nodded twice in silence then poured over the lip of the balcony like running water.

"W-wot!?" Okesa stammered in protest. "Why's y'sendin' Tommie down, neh!?"

Sen bore down on the cat with quiet calm. The cat shrank down onto her heels folding her eyes.

"Because they can't hurt him like they can hurt us, which is why we're up here."

She pointed at the opposite sides of the balcony that circled the rafters.

"Cinna. You and Kohaku and Suzume take one side each. No matter what, one of you should always be working to pin Shurui in place while the others take down whoever she's currently got ensnared in her bellsong. Wait for me. I don't want Shurui to know where here until the last moment. If we're lucky that other spider will take care of her before we have to. If not…"

Sen trailed off grimly. As she did Okesa's red pupils shrank to slits. She whispered worriedly.

"W-wotcha gonna do, kiddo?!"

Sen did not answer. Instead she turned away. As she slunk by Okesa slipped two red fans into a gap in his armor. The cat, however, kept a red and a black fan for herself.

"Kuromi."

The little spider snapped to attention like a good soldier as Sen turned with orders.

"If any of us get taken by bells use those sheets of silk. Got it?"

The spider nodded silently, silently skirting out onto the balcony to choose a favorable position. Haku realized Sen had given her duties that would not ask her to act against her sisters. As she swept her eyes once more over the atrium Haku caught the tremor in her mouth. He saw the bright glint in her eyes. For a moment he saw a flash of the frightened little girl he had saved years ago. And the tense knot in his heart eased at the proof that she was not made entirely of iron. Then the fox opened his mouth as if to argue. His teeth snapped together audibly as she rounded on him with her frigid stare. Gritting his teeth, anger kindled across his robes in curling plumes of sooty black and red. But he remained silent.

Sen turned away. Slipping into a hiding place behind an iron shutter, she pulled on her mask waving them urgently to their places. As scuttling shadows surged through the archway and Haku and Suzume darted through the hidden hallway behind thick planks of steel. Hastily Haku pulled on his dragon face pulling the fans from his side and clutched the bells in his clammy hands. With his heart hammering and throbbing in his ears he peered around the edge of the shutter and stared over the lip of the balcony at the thinning flood of spiders that clambered around the banzai station. They spilled back into the room only to mill around in confusion realizing there was nowhere to go. At once he was sick with the deafening hush of their scuttling arms and legs. But a strange twist of pity wrung its hands around his heart as he found that only ten remained of the forty or so he had glimpsed on the bridge earlier. But as they climbed the walls the boards exploded into bristling gouts of splintering wood.

Lances ricocheted in from outside in sweeping strafe patterns.

They shattered the glass and pierced the thin pulpy walls of the welcome station.

With tremulous gasps the spiders pressed huddling and clinging to the floor boards.

"You killed her!" Shimizu bellowed from the outside, "You killed Fumiko!"

Shurui's taunting voice was winded as she laughed scornfully.

"You killed Fumiko, Shimizu, just like you killed dozens of your sisters."

The spider queen continued to jibe ruthlessly.

"Will you kill them all just to get to me?"

The other spider snarled as the muffled sounds of hacking echoed in the front door.

"They'll be waiting for you in hell, _mother!_ "

She spat the word dripping with bitter rancor.

" _I'm going to send you to join them!_

The banzai station smashed inward as the spiders punched through the wall. Their sisters surged up the wall screaming in terror as Shurui and Shimizu expelled burning venom in each other's faces, screeching and grappling with their bare hands. Bloodlust threw off the ruse of their women's faces to reveal the lustrous hard black beneath. It was a hideous sight to see those long spindly legs scrambling as they knocked divots into the boards with their distended abdomens. But as they shredded wood and clawed and kicked deep gouges in each other's hulls they came up short and scrambled apart wearing their white faces again as a heavy sheet of iron dropped behind the welcome station to block the front exit.

At once fleeing spiders crawled the walls only to be plucked and hurled to the ground. More shrill and sobbing cries echoed off the high ceiling as they scrambled uselessly. Both Shimizu and Shurui produced lances of silk as they shrank from a darting flickering shadow. Undaunted the spider queen harried it with blades until she pinned it in place. Haku gasped, creeping forward to peer down into the atrium grinding his teeth. Slowly Tomoe faded into existence lifting his pale white face. Haku's heart lurched in his throat as he heard an angry hiss from the opposite balconies. A cat and a phoenix face flashed briefly around a blacks shutter. The eyes within the masks were distraught as this obviously was not part of the plan. What was Tomoe playing at!? None of them knew! As Shurui's wide ruby eyes widened in incredulous recognition she snarled in outrage.

"Ghost! You _swore_ not to follow me!"

" _This one was human once. This one lied."_

He spoke with archaic formality so soft Haku barely heard him. Here Tomoe placed hands on his stomach. As he did a terrible mouth split him horizontally spilling gouts of drool. Haku's insides scrambled in horror as he recognized the quivering maw immediately.

" _But the other cannot lie. He very much wants to eat you. And this one will happily oblige."_

With thin black fingers the ghost wrenched the lance from the lip of his filmy cloak. Tossing it aside the ghost turned to burn the spider with empty eyes both hollow and hungry. At once Tomoe was gone and Kaonashi remained. All around the ghost the shadowed thickened and writhed. Gnashing the massive rows of his yellow teethed, the gaki he stretched tall and monstrous. Shivering from side to side on his spindly thicket of limbs he stained the boards with his hate. Uttering a bass gurgling roar Kaonashi dove into a tattered twist of shadows.

Shurui gasped and skittered backwards with a wild expression of terror as it rushed her. White and grim with panic, the spider vaulted high tossing lines of silk to keep herself aloft. She stabbed at the blot of black with the thick blades clutched in her other hands. All the while she kept ringing and ringing her bell expertly warding off Suzume's efforts. Just as deftly the staining shade careened around the razor edges until the boards were black. The lances snapped and broke as grabbing hands erupted from the sooty gloom. Viciously they crunched as if the gripping fingers wished they could be arms and legs. Equally harried Shimizu scrambled away in horror hacking at the reaching shadows. She scrambled back urging her sisters up the walls away from the milling wraiths. But they were ripped down and hurled against the boards with stunning swiftness. They landed in stunned piles that did not rise.

Shurui, however, escaped the reach of the seeking arms. Swinging sideways and launching off an adjacent wall Shurui hammered the boards with silk. Woodchips and splinters erupted into the air as the floor suddenly bristled with shining lances. Ensnared, the writhing shadows roared as they surfaced in a spout of spasming arms. Darting out onto the ledge between slim shreds of a second, Okesa produced a flashing dagger. Hurling it with all her strength the cat severed the line in a burst of sticky billowing filaments. Catching the edge of the balcony he forsake his hiding place to watch.

Shurui shrieked, rowing at the air with her free hands as she fell. As she plunged toward the floor the black behemoth surfaced. Hauling himself out of the shadows, Kaonashi split open his gaping maw as he rose. Gleaming white flashed as the burning lanterns above caught the hard white edge. Shurui's screech became a shout of belligerence as she heaved her newly forged halberd down. It cunning blade divided Kaonashi in two, shattering and splitting his mask. More silk flashed as blades sank into the dividing halves of his spectral body. Dissonant chords twanged and screeched as the pole axe found what lay in the ghost's stomach. Astonished and confused, Shurui stared mutely at the shamisen.

Hewn in half, the broken instrument bled red blood against the blackened boards. Like the pinned wings of a sooty butterfly shadows heaved and quivered. Scrambling mindlessly they plucked weakly at the javelins with wiggling writhing fingers. Again bile rose in his throat as Haku watched the splintered shares of the ghost's mask spin. Around and around they spun, grinding out soft skittering sounds in the sudden silence.

" _TOMOE!"_ Okesa wailed in desolation so loud Haku slapped his hands over his ears.

The cat rushed out onto her balcony as if making ready to jump down into the atrium. Horrified anew, Haku lunged with his fan. His bells caught the cat and flung her back against the iron shutters. As they fluttered in protest Shurui wheeled on the sound with her black fan. Then Sen darted out with her bow and bell fletched arrow held high. The shaft hummed as it whipped through the air at the gleaming string. Filling the pause in the foxsong, string and bells buzzed like a hive of angry bees. Shurui screamed clutching her head. She flailed wildly, pelting the balcony with sheets and lances of silk. Sen ducked for cover behind the sheet of iron and it buckled and pitted under the onslaught.

On his feet, Haku furled his fans and whirled out of his hiding place. Tossing the bells side to side in a brisk tempo, he stared below gritting his teeth in dread. His heart skipped a beat in terror as lacquered black flashed in the bright lantern lights. Then a flute flooded in over the fading belligerence of the buzz. Shurui cut the air with her fan, shredding the foxsong to ribbons with her bell instead of him. At once she paced mirroring his every step glaring with red eyes widening with understanding. But as she reeled back other hands to cast a blades of silk at his exposed flank more bells rang.

Across from him Okesa had recovered enough to lurch upright in the opposite gallery. Yanking her off balance and waylaying her attack, the rhythm of the black bell broke. Again Suzume's strident song thickened crushing Shurui to her knees. With a gasp Shurui rolled aside fleeing the fiery bolts that set the boards ablaze in her wake. Startled by the exploding sparks of fire Haku knocked back against the wall. Through a gap in his up-thrown arms he watched Sen tail the spider's every move with her bow. The blades of her cold eyes were utterly devoid of feeling as they fixed on Shurui . The humming string was drawn to her chin as she waited patiently for her shot.

At once Haku was sick with horror as he realized she meant to kill the spider! What had he expected? Did he really think that Sen only meant to capture the spider? There was no doubt in him that Shurui deserved death. But he knew all too well the burden of murder. He carried the weight of Jouma's death as if the forsaken spider perched on his very back. How many of her faceless sisters perched along beside her? With each life he had taken a hole bored itself through the fabric of his soul. They hollowed him just as viciously as grief and suffering. How long until he was empty and echoing inside?

Could he let the ghost of the sweet brown haired child hidden within her suffer such a fate?

Could he really sit by and let Sen kill this spider?

Could he, after her had stopped Suzume from killed the fujo in the Oni Caves?

Haku jerked back to the present as blades of silk ripped up over the lip of his ledge. He barely escaped them by diving forward into a roll rising with hurried flips of his fans. Cringing behind the splintering balcony rail he glimpsed between gaps in the wood down to the atrium below. Moving in a blur of black Shurui was spinning from foot to foot and endlessly ringing and ringing her iron bell to drown Suzume's foxsong even as she threw an endless volley of sharp white with her other hands. Flying fire abated as bellsong found Sen. She jerked forward against the adjacent balcony rail with a startled yelp. But even as terror set Haku scrambling and he reaching for her with his fans Kuromi caught her, hauling her back with the tremulous flock of her hands. Shurui yanked the bow from her fingers instead and it fell to clatter on the boards below. All the while Okesa cursed and spat as she dove and danced between shards of silk struggling to break the spider's drowning rhythm.

Springing from the floor between the whizzing blade under a propelling gust of wind, Haku punched his fans forward making the lines on his bells snap. Ringing them furiously, slashing and slapping and hauling with song, he strove to catch Shurui's busy, busy hands. Haku caught and held two pulling with all his might as he lurched to stillness against the balcony rail. Bracing his foot there and hauling backwards with all his might he loosed an shout of defiance all the while ringing and ringing his bells. From across the room Okesa found two more of Shurui's hands and hindered them to stillness jinging and jangling her bells. Crushing to splinters the lances grasped in her stymied hands Shurui snarled in frustrated fury as she fought and railed against their hold only to stagger and collapse over her knees. Suzume's flute screeched and keened over her head, reverberating off the atrium walls and compelling her to sit on her heels.

Then movement at the back of the floor caught Haku's beleaguered attention. Forcing herself upright, the former captain of the spider guard shook her head. Shimizu called to the God women at her back.

"To me! To me, sisters!"

Haku stared wildly from the corner of his eyes as the thicket of soldiers rallied. Standing with blades in hand and hate in their eyes they turned on their mother. Shurui caught from the corners of her eyes a glimpse of the black guard advancing on her back. If she had been afraid before now true terror transformed the spider queen's face. Triumph surged in Haku's heart as his movements took on a crisp confident cadence. They almost had her. But she had one hand remaining and it bore the black iron bell. That single bell was their undoing.

In a moment of abject panic the spider queen ensnared not the bearer but the sound of their bells. Haku knew not that such a thing was possible! Perhaps Shurui did not either. One way or the other she whirled and wheeled pulling with all her might. Dragged forward over the lip of the balcony Haku cried out as he fell. The wind knocked out of him as he landed hard. The fans yanked right from his fingers! He knew Okesa had been disarmed similarly as she yowled woefully and the shredding sounds of claws on wood echoed from afar. Through his blurring vision Haku watched helplessly as Shurui caught the four fans and snapped them back to her hands with whizzing snares of silk.

With all six arms armed by bells Shurui lashed out with deafening song.

The chorus of bells swelled and throbbed inside his head in a symphony of agony.

Suzume's song silenced, swallowed by the shrieking cacophony of their bronze and iron voices.

Somewhere above Sen lurched to her feet holding her head screaming behind her phoenix face, ripped forward to the edge of what remained of her balcony. Moving jerkily like some kind of puppet she lobbed fizzling handfuls of fire down on Shimizu rank. Blazing projectiles smashed between the beatle black bodies as they disappeared into gouts of black smoke. Ringing and jingling her bells, Shurui mowed her way through the fleeing bodies hurling spiders against the opposite walls, painting over the gold and green murals of cool and calm pines with wide splashes of red. Sprayed with burning snapping embers as white hot flame continued to rain from above, Haku scrambled to right himself only to topple over hissing air between his teeth as his left ankle screamed. Lances of pain sharp as spider silk sliced and stabbed their way up his shin. Whirling on him as if hearing his cry, Shurui challenged him in dark fury as the bat had called him out in the caverns beneath Uguisudana Station.

"I see you, dragon!"

Her black bells rang sadistically once again clawing at the inside of his head. On high Sen shouted in consternation spinning toward him wreathed in fire. Haku froze against the floor as she reeled back her fists and they burst into dripping flame. There was nowhere for him to go. There was nowhere for him to hide. Wind would only fan her flames. There was no water here to douse her fire. He had only his bow and his blade but he could not raise his hands against her! He would not! He would sooner die! In that moment as they stared at each other through smoke and fire Haku felt strangely calm. Then Sen slammed back against an iron shutter as a sheet of silk smothered her and her fire. Hands had him from behind as Kuromi caught him. The ground dissolved beneath him as they sprang upward on whizzing tow lines of silk. Baring her needled teeth hissing and spitting in ire Shurui barked in shock.

" _You!_ You should be crushed by stones!"

She scrambled to catch them with bells. But Kuromi was too fast and the little spider was too good at hiding. Secreting him behind the iron shutters she pinned him to the floor with her many hands. Thick clouds of obscuring smoke were filling the rafters of the atrium. The black haze crawled across the ceiling above them seeking a way out. They both scrambled and skittered in surprise as Suzume appeared like a white ghost. Robbed of all color the fox took one look at him then dropped burning eyes to his injured foot. Looking down Haku stared at the splintered blade of white jutting through the bloody fabric. He stared at his broken bone stupidly as his head swam with a faint.

Clutching him tightly in her many, many arms Kuromi shoved a bar of silk between his teeth. Haku nearly passed out as the fox set the broken bone. Thrashing in the in the blinding white black gray of agony that swelled, he did not make a sound. As the worst passed he sagged in the little spider's grip. She hushed in his ear soothingly, pushing up his mask to smooth his sweat drenched brow. All the while her hands patted and rubbed his shoulders as she did her silk steel. If only those anxious hands could make him stronger. He continued to squirm and quake as more pain surged up his leg while the fox worked. Mercilessly the God's charcoal hands forced his brittle bones to join and his weak flesh to knit. Until like his shattered wrist naught remained of the pain but a dull throbbing ache. A squeak issued from his mouth as Kuromi squeezed him tightly. From below Shurui bellowed distantly.

"Come out and fight, coward! Or watch your sister die as you did before!"

Yanking him upright out of the fox's grip, Kuromi's hands kept their hold as she peered around the iron shutters through the densely rolling smoke. Choking on the acrid air, Haku stared from afar in abject dismay as Shurui plucked Shimizu out of the crackling plumes of white red fire. Badly burned and missing her helmet, the spider dropped to her knees beside the spider queen. Shurui tucked one of her fans into her armor only to produce a blade of silk that she rested on the stymied spider's shoulder. But as ringing silence filled the burning atrium and her challenge went unanswered Shurui's face fell. Then her red eyes turned cunning. Again her husky voice swelled over her bells filling the cavernous room.

"That's right, you're a traitor now! Perhaps I should kill one of your new friends instead?"

Stupidly Haku watched Shurui rip Sen free of her cocoon with a resounding flick of one fan. Shurui hauled her stunned and stumbling and gasping for air to the edge of the splintered balcony. Haku's tremulous heart surged into his throat as she skidded to a stop on the ledge teetering there. He teetered with her, reaching uselessly even as Kuromi held both he and the fox back. Kuromi knew better than to let them reveal themselves. Still pinning Shimizu in place with one of her other bells, the spider queen pointed her blade right at Sen as she held up an iron bells. Haku and Kuromi flinched in unison at what she shouted next.

"I can snap her neck the same way I can snap an arm!"

The black fans flicked and swooped in opposite directions tolling clamorously. Shimizu bellowed in agony as one of her arms broke like a brittle twig. Shrinking with sympathetic horror, Haku clamped a hand over his mouth against a gasp. As the soldier writhed at her feet Shurui thundered over the bells and the crackling fires.

"Here are my terms! All I want is the human and the gold kimono! Bring them to me and I'll leave and you'll never see me again! If you don't…"

As she trailed off her black bells pealed sonorously. Shimizu screeched and thrashed as another of her arms snapped. The sound broke something in Haku. It narrowed his world to light and dark as sound and feeling fled him. There was a bow in his hand and an arrow in his fingers. And he no longer cared about what they would cost him. He no longer had the luxury of kindness. All the malice in the two worlds had stolen from him this last shred of resistant goodness. He would carry this burden even if it dragged him to hell as long as this madness ended here.

There was a wind at his back; it blew through his hollow insides cold and cruel. It surged along his arm to the place where the arrow knocked the string. Carrying all his rage and his pain and his sorrow and his regret he let it fly. As the string hummed against his cheek the bolt shrieked as his bitter wind caught it. It sliced through the air in a blinding flash too fast for Shurui to counter. Shurui knocked backwards falling to her knees as the impact nearly threw her over. Her fans and blade clattered to the ground as she bent clutching her face. Blood ran down her fingers as she snapped off the fletching protruding from her eye. Blood spattered the blistered broken boards at her feet. Then she laughed, low at first until she laughed louder and louder.

Crestfallen, Haku could only stare with his bow humming in his hand. He truly was a fool to think a single arrow could kill this monster. As he scrambled for another arrow Shurui's empty hands furled. Several small somethings went bouncing throughout the room. One glanced off the ceiling and ricocheted onto the balcony at his feet. Stumbling back from it Haku stared in confusion at the tiny gray canister of human metal. It beeped twice then clicked.

" _Gernades!"_

Sen screamed at the top of her lungs from across the atrium as the world exploded.


	39. Chapter 39

**SEN**

The sound of her scream was swallowed in the roar of the detonating grenades. The shock slammed her back against an iron shutter as flowers of red and black bloomed. Her entire body rang and hummed as the resounding force echoed inside her head and chest. Shrapnel ripped through the air glancing off her mask and breastplate. Diving sideways she cringed on the boards only to slide and tumble as the balcony collapsed. It dumped her out into thin air, sending her flying through smoke and fire. She landed on a pile of something both hard and squishy. Tumbling down its uneven slope she splashed into a pool of something cold and sticky. Flailing, her hands slipped and skidded out from under her. Her cheek slammed against the floor.

Blood! Blood was in her mouth!

The terrible mineral copper penny taste was unforgettable. Then something heavy rolled and tumbled across her back. A corpse pinned her into the thick slippery red with its crushing weight. It took her a second to realize it was a corpse. All at once more blackened bodies loomed up all around her where they'd fallen in piles. Sen screamed as the images she'd seen in the mirror crawled out of her head and became real. Suddenly hands grabbed her only to be followed by more and more seeking fingers. A spider lurched up among the shuddering bodies! It had no head! But its hands still clambered and heaved seeking with twitching needled fingers! Scrambling with another shriek she fought to free herself from the spider's grip. But she only succeeded in pulling the thing after her.

Slamming back into another twitching writhing corpse she dragged Sengen's knife from her side. Over and over she stabbed at the black hull of the dead thing's armored forearms. She startled as water welled up out of the punctures. In a rushing hiss the spider's body dissolved into a wave of fizzling black water. It splashed over her soaking her through, getting in her mouth and nose. Even the water tasted like blood! Sen gagged in horror, dragging herself backwards through the thicket of broken arms and legs. She screeched again as more hands grabbed at her. But these weren't spider hands.

She recoiled as they let her go only to shove something in her face. She was so shell-shocked at first she didn't recognize the shattered fragments of the white. Then tremulous black hands struggled to fit together a familiar mask. He got his face all wrong. One eye stared at her mournfully from where his chin should be. He turned the other around and around trying to fit it beside a mismatched shard. The piece that held his mouth hovered over all the rest.

"Ah-ah!" Kaonashi appealed to her desperately, "Ah-ah!"

Empty hands pulled on her, pointing at the lances still pinning the halves of his body. They wriggled and shied from burning embers, reaching and straining toward each other without any luck. Sen sat bolt upright as she caught sight of Cinna through the billowing smoke. Her mask was shoved up on her dust matted brow, face scored and scratched but unharmed. At her feet she'd scattered a collection of red and black fans. But Cinna'd forgotten them. Her mirrored eyes were blank as she rocked back and forth in the rubble. Cradled in her lap were the broken halves of a splintered shamisen.

Sen recognized the smashed instrument. It was the shamisen Cinna had carried with her everywhere at Onsen. She used to talk to it like it was a person. With slow sinking horror she started to understand. Then something twitched and moaned beside the cat. Sen scrambled upright holding the dagger. Beside Cinna what Sen thought was a burned piece of rubble turned out to be a spider. It was the broken armed soldier spider Shurui had tortured earlier. Unlike the scrambling corpses at her back, this spider had her head. She was unconscious but breathing. Stupidly Sen watched the filthy fractured hull of her armor lift and fall. But as she stood there staring, she stumbled to her knees as the floor shuddered. Her insides skittered with terror as far below her feet something structural emitted a bass squealing moan that rattled up the burning walls.

She screeched and huddled under her arms as sections of ceiling poured down in rushes of burning rubble. Lurching to the lances through the swirling embers untouched by the heat, she pulled uselessly. They were buried deep in the boards. But as she scratched them with Sengen's blade they dissolved into frothy water. Like joining quicksilver Kaonashi's halves flowed back together and lifted over her in a sooty pillar of thin shadows. Still he got his face wrong and the broken pieces fitted together in a loose confederation of mismatched shards.

"Ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah-ah!"

Kaonashi moaned as he shuffled back and forth in a panic shrinking from the flames. Whirling on the gaki Sen pointed at Cinna and Shimizu.

"Get them out of here!"

Solemnly he bobbed his head once and then twice. Gently he collected Cinna into the bow of his thin arms. Normally she would've hissed and spit and clawed. But the cat didn't even resist. Kaonashi hesitated a moment then he gathered up the fans and the broken pieces of the shamisen with delicate spindly fingers, carrying them in the front fold of his gathered cloak. Another hand divided from beneath its sooty hem. Gasping the spider by the foot Kaonashi dragged her behind him into the swirling smoke. Picking his way through the eddying licking fires, shoving aside chunks of ceiling and wall, Kaonashi sprouted more and more arms to fight back the conflagration. Peering through the ember choked air Sen watched anxiously as the gaki paused where the welcome station had been. The iron shutter they'd dropped earlier had warped in the explosions. One corner had shoved outward. Around this Kaonashi crept carefully, still dragging the spider behind him.

As they disappeared outside, the balcony above collapsed in a raining floor of burning wood and plaster. It ignited in a burst of hungry surging red and orange flames. These roved across the ruined atrium, billowing in swelling plumes of devouring black smoke. Instinctively Sen threw her arms up against the singing rush of fire. Heeding the panicked waving of her hands the blaze divided around her. White curling blades climbed her arms and shoulders until they were up in her hair. The Fire held back its brethren even as the heat scorched her skin. Behind her phoenix face they stung her eyes and chapped her lips. But even as she caught fire Sen didn't burn. Hurriedly she returned the knife to its sheath before she cut herself. Then Sen stood up out of the fire and spun in a circle.

"Kohaku!"

She shouted over the roaring voice of the flames.

"Suzume!"

She couldn't see anything through the thick carpet of smoke filling the ceiling like pooling water. Again she wobbled and teetered uncertainly as this time the floor heaved and screeched violently. Across the room where some of the ceiling had fallen Sen watched through billowing curtains of embers in cold spreading dread as the floor tilted only to cave inward, dropping away into a widening swallowing hole. Whirling away Sen ran on stiff and clumsy legs, stumbling and crawling through smoke and fire as the collapsing floor roared louder than even the flames shaking Aburaya's from the seat of its foundation all the way to the top of the roof.

Sooner than she'd expected she slammed against the pitted and fire pocked back wall. Splattered with heat blackened blood, the murals of pines had somehow survived the explosion. Smashing her fist on the board her hammering heart lurched as the passage stayed closed. Again and again she beat the board but it wouldn't open. With hands shaking so badly she almost dropped Sengen's knife she stabbed the board. It dissolved in a ribbon of instantly evaporating steam.

Throwing herself through the gap in the wall Sen wriggled through. As her knife clattered away into the dark as she collapsed on the hidden landing. Clambering blindly she climbed halfway up the first flight of quaking stairs. At once clinging to a step cringing as the wall and part of the landing ripped away. Then the shaking subsided. Creeping forward in jerky movement Sen slid down to the bottom step and stared. Beyond the ragged gap torn in the wall she could see the floor was gone. A dark colossal hole yawned were the atrium had been. Far below the bowels of the bath house were all aglow with burning coals. They glimmered and shimmered in waves of heat like the eyes of an army of gaki. Embers and black haze rushed up in massive twisting clouds through a hole in the front roof. Cool fresh air blew in sideways from the galleries behind the swinging screeching iron shutters. Ash floated down all around her like smudging snow as Sen stared and stared. Then singing bolts of silk lanced down on her from somewhere in the smoke.

Something hit her hard in the chest, glancing off her armor and hurling her back onto the steps. She cringed under her arms erupting into a ball of fire as they shattered around her. But the licking snapping tongues devoured the cutting splinters of shrapnel. Still burning, she fled up the stairs on hands and knees only to fall on the next flight. Crumbling on the steps the fire on her hands and arms winked out as her strength ebbed. As her sight blurred Sen stared stupidly at the blackened splinter of white. It had burned down to a smoldering stump that protruded between a gap in the plates. Dull throbbing pain was spreading like the dark stain on the indigo fabric beneath. Touching it with numb shaking fingers her glove came away wet. Again she stared and stared stupidly, because she hadn't seen this.

* * *

 **HAKU**

All their waiting; all their patient preparations; everything they had rebuilt; all of it burned as the tiny human devices exploded.

He would have been obliterated if not for Kuromi. She blurred in the slim seconds between the two tiny beeps the little metal canister emitted. The spider caught and threw him at Suzume as she hauled the iron shutters shut before them. Time slowed as a sonic boom rocked the walls, floor, ceiling, and every fiber of his body. All the air left his lungs as he slowly floated up off the floor drifting backwards. Blooming blossoming fire writhed and wreathed the doors as they surged around its hinges. Billowing and dancing in incandescent crimson and ochre like some kind of living thing. Fingers and tongues of burning devouring bright reached for him rippling tremulously. The sturdy black metal buckled inward with a shriek as they ripped from the walls. He watched them stupidly blinded by their deadly beauty. They smashed into them, sweeping them from their feet and hurling them backwards. Stunned by the humming absence of sound again the world spun. It dissolved into billowing black and blinding snapping searing red. Paper sliders shattered and splintered behind his back. Then cold clean crisp air surrounded him in stunning singing silence. Whispering whistling wind plucked and pulled him as he spun and spun and spun.

Water smashed against his back splashing around him in hissing effervescent sprays.

Frigid and bitter with salt it swallowed him whole making his charring clothes smolder.

Down, he sank as gurgling burbling filled his ringing ears.

Down, drifting and floating lower and lower into the crushing depths.

Until his back hit eroding swirling sand.

The water heaved him over, rolling him sideways faster and faster until it broke over his face. Still the waved shoved him, splashing against his back as he sat up choking and coughing. Rolling over on his side, Haku clawed his way up onto the sandy bank gasping for air. The placid surf lapped around him as he rolled onto his back and tore off his mask. He blinked and blinked in confusion as snow drifted down from the low heavy clouds. Astonished and unsure his shuddering breath blew from his lips in a white plume. His teeth chattered violent as he tried to stand only to fall back onto the icy sand. Did he dream? Was this real?

"Here."

A voice spoke mildly as an opalescent hand floated into his view. Panic surged in his sluggish limbs as Haku yanked backwards splashing through the water. Hanoane's gleaming tip pointed right at Hidé as he foundered in the waves. Haku did not remember drawing it. He stared askance at the God of the sea, half blinded by the sight of the former human. He was naked from the waist up, the hard white planes of his chest and arms gleaming like the pearly interior of a seashell. His blue hakama glittered and gleamed like the inside of an abalone shell, billowing and drifting in the salt water where they faded away into shimmering scales beneath the pitching waves. But beneath the wet fringe of his ink black hair the God's stubborn face was more than familiar as his incandescent sapphire eyes closed. Sighing in exasperation, the once fisherman wilted and pinched the bridge his nose in a very ungodish motion.

"Just stop an' hear me out before hypothermia sets in, will you?!

As he stared at Hidé all the old hate he held for the human he had been blew out of him in a cracking wind. Sea foam skittered across the surface of the bobbing waves as he glared venomously chewing a flooding torrent of rude improprieties with his violently chattering teeth. But even as his blue lips split into a trembling dour grimace Haku forced himself to reckon with the fact that this God was not the male rival he once feared. The woman they had squabbled over like churlish fools was lost. Only her ghost remained. Bitterly Haku wondered if Hidé would even recognize that much in the iron-eyed stranger she had become. Again Hidé offered his hand

"If you let me, I can give you back some of what you lost."

Haku cringed as the jewel around his neck burned against his bare skin. Scrambling to pull it out, he crushed the cold stone in his gloved hand. He barely restrained the urge to yank savagely on the silver chain savagely. But it would not break. It would not come off. Haku hated it! It weighed around his neck like the cold iron collar he had one been forced to wear. Sullenly he kept his sword in the other even though it would be useless against the God. Especially as waves surged between them growing restless as they slammed on the shore. The sea no longer heeded him. If anything salt water sought to spite him. That it was lapping all around him filled his tiny beleaguered chest with fear. Bewildered and hesitant, Haku glared at the gleaming white hand the God offered him. But there was an earnest expression of fear in Hidé's glimmering blue gaze. Something in it made the shadow of premonition hiding in his heart stir ominously.

"Let me help you, Nigihayami Kohaku."

It was the second time a God had spoken his name today. Haku waded forward slowly all the while leaning away as the urge to flee hummed in his bones. He stared at the gleaming hand not knowing what Hidé intended. And the harbor God was reaching for him insistently. Angry waves crashed around them hissing and fizzling. Dropping the jewel it clattered loudly against the silk steel plate Kuromi crafted for him. Thinking of her brought back everything that had happened in a stinging rush.

Fire bloomed in the dark pits of his memory making him shake with terror.

Every inch of his body smarted and stung, humming with the memory of the explosion.

It was still ringing and ringing in his ears, making him shake his head.

As if he was falling again Haku stumbled forward to seize Hidé's hand. Haku shook with a violent start as an electric jolt went surging up his arm, spreading through his tiny weak body, humming in his pumping blood until it ignited in his head and his head in a blinding flash. The frigid waves surged up around him, consuming him even as he gasped a breath. Hushing swishing bubbles tickled in his ears as the water heaved him up. His feet left the sand and he was weightless and lost in its towing power. Haku gasped again as he breeched into thin air. Splashing down hard he foundered for a moment as he struggled to tread water. Stunned, he lost himself in the pull of the enthusiastic currents that came to his call. They heaved him up to break the surface once again. Bobbing there he blinked and sputtered as the water made him more than buoyant.

"Kohaku-san!" Kuromi cried distantly.

Eddying round in the water he found the spider on the distant train tracks. Sprawled beside her soaked in his plastered white robes was the fox. But the water between them reflected glittering reds and oranges. Bits of burning flotsam fizzled with glowing embers. Spinning round in the deep so swiftly a whirlpool started around him Haku stared up. He had to tip his head back to stare up at Aburaya.

Massive hands of red and yellow flames spilled out the sides of the bath house's main floor. They crawled the walls reaching upwards to finger the foot of the wide red verandas above. Then the bath house shook from the foot of its foundation to the top of the distant spire. Smoke belched from the windows wreathing the gleaming green roof in a veil of black. Part of the roof toward the front of the building caved inward letting red light escape. The hazy sky above was a dull orange reflecting back the monstrous flames. Haku sank beneath the surface as his horror weighed him like a stone.

* * *

 **LIN**

The distant explosions had culminated in this final bone-rattling quake. At her back Kiri didn't even seem to notice. She swayed over her clutched bundle dead to the world. Strapped to her front the kits trilled and laughed as the floor lurched and shook violently. Braced hand and foot in a doorway grinding her teeth Lin rode out the monstrous tremor. Her heart was still hammering in her throat as finally it subsided. The ringing silence that followed made every hair on her body stand on end. Earlier she'd heard distant bells ringing. She'd heard shouts and screams. She smelled smoke. The urge to run was vibrating in the marrow of her bones. But again there was nowhere she could go, not without him.

"Suzume," she whispered his name in a choked hiss.

She'd had him again if only for a moment. Her legs trembled with the memory of his smell: camphor and charcoal. But her husband didn't come, not even as she breathed his name like a prayer. Umi's knife was in her hand as Lin crept through the woman's wing on silent feet. Her missing arm ached with the dark memories hidden away in the empty dim corridors and closets. Loitering anxiously and pacing back and forth at the edge of the interior gallery, Lin peered down into the servants' quarters. Red light was filtering through from the hidden landing leading to the atrium. Pressed into shadows, she sniffed the air and tasted the bittersweet mix of smoke and fresh air.

Lin gasped as another explosion rocked the stairwell.

Dust and wisps of spider silk surged up over the landing. Lin backpedalled sharply as Sen followed shortly smoking like an ember and covered in burned blood. Her feet left burn marks in the boards and the tatami as she staggered past, yanking Kiri upright. The sick-faced human dragged to her feet, following mutely as Sen forced her toward the back stairs leading to Yubaba's apartment. Giving Kiri a firm shove, sending her scrambling up the first flight, Sen turned on her pointing overhead.

"Get upstairs and hide!"

But as she turned she wavered, swaying sideways against the wall. She slid to her knees a wide stain of red stained the paper plaster behind her. Sinking to her knees beside herm Lin hissed between her teeth as she saw the burned stump. It turned out to be a blade of silk as long as Lin's hand and half as wide. Sen wasn't a complete idiot. She'd left it in. Otherwise she would've probably been bleeding to death right now.

"Suzume!" Lin murmured in horror over and over, "Suzume! Suzume!"

Sen was pointing at the stairs again.

"Go!"

Behind the chipped and singed phoenix mask her silver eyes were hard as iron. They reminded Lin of Kubi's eyes, which sent a punch of terror skittering through her insides, because Kubi was dead. Sen's voice was just as firm when she spat the hoarse command. Lin snorted in annoyance.

"Girl! When did you get so hard?"

Sen shoved her away leaving a smear of blood on her sleeve.

"She'll smell the blood! She'll find you!"

Again Lin laughed a hard bark of refusal. Returning Umi's knife to her obi Lin grabbed Sen's arm and yanked her upright. Sen sagged with a frustrated moan but in no state to argue.

"You smell like fire, you dope!" Lin growled in her face, "And I'm not leaving you!"

Kiri's eerie whisper echoed down the stairwell in a thin warning.

"She's coming!"

Not giving her another chance to argue Lin hauled Sen's arm over her shoulder ignoring the human's gasp of pain. Carrying her kits and most of the human's weight, she towed Sen up the back stairs. The girl was gasping and stumbling by the time Lin shoved Kiri out of the stairwell with her foot. The smashed and burned corridors that had once been Yubaba's private apartment still stank of festering hatred and suffering, making her skin crawl as the walls seemed to radiate cold. Clambering around the shattered and ruined remains of walls and furniture Lin was careful not to step on the black stains burned into the wood floors. Kiri didn't seem to care as Lin herded the human ahead of them. But then again the female had carried the Forgotten inside her at one point in time.

Dragging Sen into what had once been a bathroom Lin laid her out on the dusty marble floor. She didn't get up, making Lin's insides seize and shy about in cold fear. Lin cursed beneath her breath until she was forced to grip Umi's knife in her teeth. With her only hand she ripped off the obi and slipped out of her spider silk kimono. Wearing only the thin undershift Lin made a nest out of her clothes in the clawfoot tub. Into this she carefully placed Kokoro and Makoto. She felt strangely light without their weight, swaddling them tightly in the silk wraps Fumiko had made for them. Her hand shook as she thought of the spider. Again she saw her fall forward onto the stone steps. She shook her head to make the sight go away. But its ghost remained in the droplets of of red on the marble tiles beneath Sen. As Lin stole back to her side her teeth tightened on the blade until she tasted blood.

Squatting on her haunches Lin studied Sen's chest armor. Dull red and patterned with fanciful flames, the front plate had cracked under the impact of something that had struck her square in the chest. Her insides went cold as she realized Sen would be dead if it hadn't been there. Bits and wisps of spider silk still clung to the ragged edges. As Lin tugged one-handed at the side laces Sen pushed up her phoenix face that once belonged to Reika Nikkou. Tight lines aged her face. Her cheeks and lips were bone dry and cracked with heat blisters. She looked old, especially with the silver threads of her hair escaping the sweat-soaked kerchief on her brow. For a moment Lin panicked thinking another decade had passed in the human world before Sen had found her. But it was only the pain. Sen's faced tightened as her parched lips split into a grimace as Lin pulled at her side. Her silver lashes fluttered on her ashy cheeks, but they stayed open, watching grimly as Lin cut a wide strip of silk from the bottom of her shift leaving her legs exposed from the knee down.

She placed the wad of cloth around the burned stump and made Sen to hold it there. Lin blinked as it soaked red. She'd expected Sen to sob and to cringe, not to grit her teeth and endured the pain in flinty silence. The girl she knew would've been been bawling at a simple stubbed toe. Lin took Umi's knife in her hand so she could hiss at the other human.

"Kiri! Kiri get over here and help me!"

The former shrine maiden was standing in front of the cracked filthy windows. Beyond the panes sky had begun to go gray with approaching dawn. What she said next brought Lin to perfect stillness as she pointed absently.

"I can see Suzume."

As her fluttering heart surged into her mouth Lin clambered to the opposite gallery of windows and pressed her nose to the glass. Her breath clouded the filthy milky glass making it impossible to see. But before she could bite the blade and pop the window Shurui's voice echoed distantly. Lin whirled and froze as it seemed to emanate from the heat grates in the walls. Sen's pale eyes flashed like mirrors in the dark. They went perfectly round as they stared madly at the bathroom door. Luckily Lin had closed it. She held her breath as the spider wove her words like a snare.

"You love the weasel like you love the dragon, don't you human?"

Straining until her face was a mask of agony, Sen sat up on the marble tiles. Gripping her side she bent her head as Shurui's weaving continued.

"I know what it's like to love someone so much you're willing to go anywhere and do anything just to get them back! We're the same, human! You and I!"

Sen cringed from the words as if they'd stabbed her all over again. Lin ground her teeth, wanting to scream at the spider to shut up. Even though Gods couldn't lie what the spider said wasn't true. Shurui was nothing like Sen. Lin bit her blade and hauled Sen to her feet as she struggled to rise, steading her as the human wavered on her feet clutching her side. What the hell did she think she was going to do!? But Lin couldn't argue, not with the knife clenched in her teeth. Then Makoto burbled and squalled hungrily inside the tub. Lin froze in the stunning silence that followed.

The door to the bathroom splintered as it kicked in. Instinct propelled Lin forward as she caught the cartwheeling plank of wood one handed and redirected deftly. It smashed to kindling against the plaster wall. Startled, Kiri sprawled sideways scrambling to catch the kimono as she dropped it. The human cringed on the floor as spider silk arrows erupted through the battered gaping frame and whizzed right over her head. Lin spun on her heel to throw herself over the tub as windows smashed and the kits wailed. She flinched as cutting shards of glass rained and white hot fire flared at her exposed back. Yanking her mask down Sen punched forward in a crackling burst. The rushing arrows dissolved into gouts of black ash as they smashed against her barrier.

Even as they knocked her back Sen struck forward with a furious shout of defiance. Bell rang clamorously in the echoing room as Sen ripped whipping rainbow from her side. Crowning them in a spiral of bronze was a thicket of flashing chiming shining spheres. Stabbing them forward Sen jerked them them backward making the ribbons crack and the bells sing. Lin's teeth snapped together and she shrank from the terrible hum that went rattling through her bone worse than the earlier tremors. Startled and stumbling Shurui yanked forward into the threshold and smashed down onto the shattering tiles. Again the bells chimed mercilessly and the ribbons snapped from side to side like a whip. Sen pivoted her body with another ferocious bark and the stunned spider hurled back and forth in the frame obliterating the archway. Standing there with her kits at her back Lin looked on cheerlessly. Relentlessly Sen beat the spider against the walls until they were rittled with fractures. Lin took the blade from her lips wrung the hilt in her fingers, because the stupid spider just wouldn't die!

Gasping for breath Sen's bells silenced as she fell to one knee. Across the room Shurui slide down from the wall and collapsed in a heap. With a life of their own the spiders gripping hands weakly plucked and pulled against the floor. Her splintered armor was filthy with blood and dust and riddled with cracks as large chunks of her once shiny hull fell away in shattered shards. Her helmet was missing and the monstrous lobes of her hair had torn down into tangles. Lin saw with savage satisfaction that one of her eyes had been put out with an arrow. The broken shaft protruded from the bloodstained bandage of silk that wound its way around her head. But one eye remained and it burned like a fire in the haze as she begged in a sobbing hiss.

"Please…! I just want to see him! Please! Please let me see Garuda...!"

Lin's skin crawled in the touch of madness in the God woman's husky voice. But the spider had mistaken obsession for love. Lin didn't Shurui was capable of loving anything except herself. She'd proved that when she abandoned her daughters to the Laughing Moon Tea House. Through the swirling haze of plaster Lin stared askance at Sen as she sat back on her heels. But she couldn't see anything of the girl behind the phoenix face. The girl had gone hard, but was she really made of iron? Lin wouldn't let her break, not after everything the spider'd done. Baring her teeth Lin uttered a bloodthirsty snarl. The taste of blood was still in her mouth and a bitter wind blew snow through her heart. All the while her phantom arm ached and burned.

"Finish her," Lin growled, "Finish her or I will!"

Before Sen could snap Shurui's neck, before Lin could sink Umi's dagger into her last burning eye, Kiri darted between them holding up the blood stained gold robe. Shurui's head jerked up as the fabric gleamed in the dark. Such hope and longing burned in her red eye as she reached for the robe. Then the human's wan face twisted with savage hatred. She balled the fabric in her weak fists and pulled. Fragile and thin, the seams split. Ripping and ripping savagely Kiri tried to tear it to shreds. Her face cleared with dark pleasure as Shurui screamed and screamed. Astonished by the feeble human female's sudden fit of sadism Lin could only stare.

Sen stumbled upright only to pitch forward as her feet jerked out from under her. As Lin lunged to catch the girl her legs dissolved too. Her head bounced off the head marble floor and the world dissolved into a haze of bright. Sen was still and sprawled beside her as the sparkles finally cleared. Stunned and dizzy, Lin struggled to saw at the bolo of silk entangling her ankles. Sick panic surged in her gut as she foundered lamely. And she couldn't do anything but watch as Shurui ensared the human around the waist with a whipping line only to dragged the human across the floor. The tattered gold kimono trailed behind her then it was fluttering up into the spider waiting hands. Viciously Shurui threaded the human's arms through the trailing sleeves. As the torn ribbons of fabric pooled around the human's feet they caught like a sparkler. It bloomed and billowed into yellow-green fire. Growing brighter and brighter until the flames swallowed Kiri whole. Even Shurui shrank from it as the closest bits of trash and splintered wood charred. As before Lin could feel the burn from across the room. Finally the fire split, breathing its torrid breath through the room. Lin cringed as they divided into an enormous pair of ember wings. These immolated in a rush of hot air, scattering eroding cinder feathers.

Lin froze as the God-not-of- this-land stood out of the dwindling flame. The smell of sweet incense drifted in his wake. Struck stupid with awe Lin could only stare as she had when last she saw him. Garuda was beautiful. Naked from the waist up his smooth bare skin glowed the same color of the billowing fabric wound round his slender waist. The God showed like bronzed gold, cut in hard lines of muscle and sinew. Strange characters etched into his skin in looping bracketed curls, running in sinuous lines as they traversed his body in storied she could not read. Bands of silver glittering with emeralds trapped the muscles at his biceps, wrists, and calves; crowning his head and holding the thick ebony waves of his topknot in place. But at the last moment Shurui clasped a hard band of iron around his neck. Lin jolted as she realized it was the same one that Kubi'd worn around her neck. Sinking to her knees at his feet the spider clutched the lead in her hands.

 _"Kubi is dead! Now you have no one left to love but me!"_

As she screamed she yanked on the leash brutally.

" _LOVE ME! LOVE ME! LOVE ME!"_

Flung onto the hard tiles, Garuda stared askance at Shurui in shocked silence. His darting eyes belonged to a bird of prey. They were slitted and yellow like the mirrored gold loops threaded through his earlobes. Gold traced the edges of his almond shaped eyes and the bow of his generous lips. It painted his entire brow, running down the hawk-like cut of his chiseled nose. These drew into tight lines of horror as his razor claws raked the ground gouging deep lines. Slowly, straining and struggling as if each movement cost him, Garuda sat back on his heels. Dropping his leash the spider jerked away from him in astonishment as he defied the collar. Bending his head, he gripped the band of iron in his talons. All the muscles across his golden shoulders bulged and rippled as he pulled with all his might. But it didn't so much as budge. It remained locked around his neck.

Garuda closed his eyes as his devastatingly beautiful face cleared with resignation.

As his wings drooped to the floor he tipped back his head.

Then he burst into flames.

* * *

 **SEN**

She couldn't think, couldn't focus. Then yellow green fire flared up beside her. Numbly she opened her eyes to watch it climb the walls and ceiling. The color was all wrong. Fire wasn't supposed to be green. Something in the color jogged her memory as she fumbled with her suzu. Get up! She screamed and yelled at her sluggish body. Get up! She'd seen yellow green fire somewhere before. Suddenly she was afraid and she didn't understand why.

Then Lin was dragging her away out of the choking smoke only the windy balcony. As she stared behind them she watch fire engulf the interior only to chase after them. Lifting an empty hand Sen squeezed her fist trying to crush it into submission. But it roared at her and remained feral, climbing up into the eaves above them. The kits were screaming and screaming but she could barely hear them over the fire. As Lin dropped her onto the black and white marble tiles she bellowed into the pale gray sky.

" _SUZUME!"_

But instead of the fox Kohaku gusted up into view beneath his flapping umbrella. Sen's heart surged into her throat at the sight of his white dragon face. Spinning in a screaming gust of wind, he threw out his arm and snapped into place, hovering fitfully as he strained and reached to clamp a hook of silk onto the rail. She reached for him unconsciously as her cold insides squeezed in panic when a surging gale rolled him off the face of the burning building. But the hook remained and a cable attached to it pulled taut with a humming twang. Cringing on the terrace floor, Sen watched in surprise through raining embers as Kuromi furled up into the warming sky. She dangled expertly beneath a parachute of billowing silk at the end of the cable. Letting her chute drift higher she climbed along the line hand over hand until the spider swung up onto the rail reaching with all her hands.

As Kuromi caught her Lin resisted. But then the spider caught her with more hands even as she took up the line with others. Others still yanked the anchoring hook free. Then Kuromi launched off the rail, out from under the burning eve, and up into the sky. She carried Lin and the kits with her. Her heart sang in wild relief as they drifted away to safety.

"Sen!" Lin shouted as her wild eyes looked back to her, _"Sen!"_

Sen lost sight of her as Kohaku was back again, struggling visibly to keep himself steady. Agony bloomed in her side as she pulled herself upright on the rail. Still gripping her suzu, she reached her other hand for his as he threw it toward her. Wind ripped around her so strong it nearly blew her backwards. Her eyes watered as it stung her face behind her mask, making it hard to see. But his determined green eyes were incandescent beneath the gleaming face of a dragon. They flashed like shells, reflecting the fire eroding the rafters above her head. Her stomach lurched as their fingers brushed. Then an ensnaring line of smoldering silk caught her foot and pulled.

She landed hard on the hard marble with a screech of pain. She heard Kohaku shout in dismay as the line towed her back. And the eve collapsed behind her in a snarling pouring cascade of burning green tiles and eroding red beams. It rushed after her in a billowing black flood. Sen screamed as she was dragged away from the crush into the growling mouth of the savage yellow-green flames. Again the terrible things she'd seen crawled out of her head and became real. The heat burned her! It was hotter than anything she'd ever felt before! Sen screamed and writhed in agony, swinging her suzu uselessly as she struggled to free herself.

Finally the flames rolled back as she yanked out into the stunning cold and the familiar rough tongue of a carpet rasped beneath her blistered cheek. Then Shurui fell over her yanking her off the ground with the grasping tangle of her blackened hands. All at once the burn on Sen's thigh ached with a chilling cold warning. Gone was the lie of the spider's white face as she howled unintelligibly. All that remained was the monster she'd become. Sen could see with chilling horror that she wasn't just a spider anymore. All the dark and terrible things she'd accumulated in her heart had taken on a life of their own.

She'd forgotten herself inside them. They were eating her alive.

Viciously Sen punched with her suzu and sent the bitch reeling. Ripping the bells back and forth she pummeled the spider with the clamorous bells. But as they rocked and rolled, heaving and dragging across the filthy burned rug Shurui wouldn't let go! Dread surged in her chest as she whipped the bells and snapped her arms one by one! Even as the spider bellowed in agony, she wouldn't let go! Her empty hand caught the broken fletching jutting from the spider's eye and Shurui wailed in torment as Sen pulled on it. Terror set her scrambling uselessly as the spider whirled so swiftly that Sen sagged dizzily before Shurui slammed her onto the floor with brutal force. Dazed and stunned she flopped only to jerk and scramble as claws closed around her throat. Sen screamed as hissing black smoke started up where claws clutched her gorget. It burned and melted under chilling fire that spread a heavy sluggish ice through her skin and into her blood. Recognizing the touch Sen kicked and clawed in mounting panic. Her ears were ringing and humming as she fought to summon fire. But she was cold; so very, very cold; colder than she'd been in the boiler room.

The shadow of death fell over her.

It was more than familiar. She'd seen it several times before.

And it was cold too! Colder than anything she'd ever felt!

All the heat in her body seemed to be seeping out of the hole the shrapnel punched in her side.

Suddenly ghosts were screaming the words over and over inside her head.

 _Finish what you started! Finish what you started!_

Sen didn't understand. She hadn't started this. Shurui had.

All the same, how could she finish anything if she was dead?

Sen gasped as a vicious wind smashed through the windows behind them pelting Shurui with shards of glass. She shielded her face from the cutting blade as the raging squall ripped the spider sideways. Shurui clambered upright and whirling toward it snarling and spitting hissing venom. Then the spider's head flew from her shoulders as lightning flashed. It caught air, glancing off the adjacent wall before it ricocheted back. Still stunned, Sen stared as, like the ball she'd seen in her premonition, it bounced back. As it rolled to a stop facing away the spider's lumbering twitching body stretched tall and spindly as more and more arms tore out of its writhing swelling abdomen. It's seeking hands sprouted more and more needled fingers until they were bristling like hideous black trees, clawing and clutching at the air looking for something it couldn't see. Then a new mouth ripped its way across the behemoth's belly. Teeth like jagged knives gleamed in the light of the spreading feral green-yellow flames as it roared the metallic chorus of its suffering.

" _ **MINE!"**_

More black blood plumed in hissing gouts as Kohaku cleaved the Forgotten in two. The scream he loosed as Hanoane flashed again was raw and besieged. She rang with the sound as the bells in her suzu hummed in sympathy. Moving like the billowing gales he called into the room, as whipped his body around Haku blew furiously between his pinched fingers. Wind surged across his back and slammed against the monster. It toppled and spun, heaving back into the yellow-green flames climbing out of the doorway. They surged hungrily, snapping up the writhing screeching arms as they flailed. Yanking Shurui's head off the floor Kohaku cast it into the spreading fire. Gasping for air Sen stared at the feral blaze long and hard to make sure it didn't bounce back out. It didn't.

Suddenly shaking violently she collapsed back onto the rug. It was done. Everything pulled strangely far away as she clung to that fact. But for some reason it didn't bring her any peace of mind. Red blood was spattered across his mask as Kohaku came for her. Sen almost passed out as he gathered her up off the floor. She sagged in his grip as he hurriedly ushered her for the gaping windows. He stumbled as ceiling in the hallways behind them buckled and poured inward. Turning his back on the pluming fire rushing into the room he launched off the floor. Wind screeched and whistled around them as they flew out into thin air. Sen clenched her eyes as the devouring feeling of falling surged and eddied in her chest. Then they lurched upward on a swell of weightlessness. Finally she forced her eyes open as light that wasn't fire warmed her face. Through the veil of fog she watched the sun break the horizon. But they spun and spun making her dizzy and sick. Even though her back was warm Sen's face was cold as she stared at Aburaya.

Far below she watched the bath house collapse inward like a stack of burning cards.


	40. Chapter 40

**HAKU**

Lin's shout was swallowed by the shrieking wind.

Kuromi's billowing chute was a dark blot as it floated by overhead.

Below him was a petrifying plunge into distant black water.

But Haku did not hear or see neither of these.

All he could see in his mind's eye was the gold-red flash of Sen's mask. Amidst the pandemonium of the burning building and the screaming empty sky it stayed with him even as he rolled off Aburaya's bulk, ensnared by the retreating curls of the tremendous gusts breaking on her walls. He nearly screamed in frustration, scrambling madly to control his rampant course. But from where he foundered he was offered a perfect view from thin air as like water running in reverse feral yellow-green fire welled up the lip of the balcony eve and spilled onto the expansive roof. Everything it touched turned black and blistered, eroding away into cinders. The monstrous blaze became a living thing as it poured out of the smashed bathroom windows. Glass shards hanging from the frame melted into a red-hot rain of glowing orange globules as the licking flitting flames clawed the walls only to rip free and furl out reaching for him in searing waves of roaring snarling fire!

But before he could go crashing into those hungry reaching hands Haku threw out his other arm and snapped into place with jarring suddenness. Wind poured around him, smashing against the flames and making them gutter as he fought to hover just beyond the blackening banisters of the balcony. Ever dip and buck set his stomach flipping and surging in his gut as tugging terror threatened to send him plummeting down into the devouring drop. At the same time he battled the crazed gusts that wanted to tear him up into sky. Unyielding determination, however, had him hooking a foot into the crook of the umbrella handle so he could throw his body toward the inferno. As if panicked by the fire his flapping umbrella jittered and jumped in the eddying gales. Viciously Haku anchored it in place with pure will, reaching his hand. Because even though the thick curtains of acrid smoke and biting embers again he could see her as she leaned over the smoldering balcony railing.

The red lacquered pocked and blistered as it melted and turned black. Sen was smoking similarly as she reached for him leaning further and further out over the banister. The world came to singular stillness as he strained and stretched his fingers for hers. The howling fire and the screaming wind faded from his ears. All that remained was the throbbing thunderous thump of his hammering heart and the silent scream of panic thrilling in the very marrow of his bone. Because he could see the whites of her eyes as he drifted closer. But he was slow, so mercilessly slow he wanted to curse and scream. He could see every detail of pain in the bright blades of her iron eyes as they caught the glow of the rancorous viridian flames.

His heart even as it swelled up into his parched throat.

He was so very close! So close!

Her fingers scrambled against the tips of his.

He almost had her.

But then she was gone! Gone!

She hit the ground hard only to be towed and dragged into the boiling fire with such stunning swiftness he could do absolutely nothing but stare in utter torment! A thunderous shout of horror ripped from his lips as he surged forward, slamming against the smoldering rail, reaching and staring uncomprehending. But the smoldering banister held even as it bowed and moaned against his struggles, as the inferno swallowed her entirely. Then the blinding blaze tore down the eve and the roof overhead with its callous green-yellow fingers preventing him from following in his folly.

A deluge of singing invisible heat followed the crashing rubble. Like a breaking wave it hit Haku like a punch to the face knocking him senseless. It blew him flying backwards as a giant would send a gnat reeling with a single puff of its lips. As torrid air filled his umbrella tines devouring speed thrilled heavily in his head. His neck snapped backwards and his teeth cracked together in a lightning flash of pain. Any remaining shred of moisture in his body fled him in hisses of steam. Even the air in his lungs wheezed out of him as his squinted eyes burned and stung.

She was lost again in fire and he could not follow!

He was just as lost in the weakness of his mortal body and the misery in his heart!

The umbrella inverted as he plummeted. It slipped in his sweat slick fingers as strength ebbed from his hands. Whirling turbulently, sick with dizziness, Haku fell from the sky heavy and listless. But before he could break against the water below Sengen's jewel ignited with cold furious fire. It burned like a frozen coal where it pressed between his naked skin and the muffling layers beneath his armor. Haku gasped aloud as the same strange effervescent cold surged through his chest, spreading from the humming jewel just as it spread up his arm when he took Hidé's hand on the snowy beach. The swelling shimmering force trampled the consuming melancholy that would have cost him his very life. Like a drowning wave it flooded and filled him entirely only to force open a hidden door in the distant corners of his soul. Beyond it was something Haku had almost forgotten in the suffering and doubt that afflicted him during the half-year since Sengen granted his wish. The glittering rush rebounded back through the open corridor in a gusting gale that towed a single humming thread thrilling with magic.

As it soaked him through with clarity Haku remembered.

He remembered himself as he had when Chihiro returned his name long ago.

Yes, he was flesh and bone, but he was also wind and water.

He was both and neither: mortal and dragon.

He was Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. He would always be Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi.

No one could take that from him unless he let them, not even the Gods.

With another exultant gasp, Haku's eyes ripped open on sight and sound as sensation flooded through him on a stab of bright white panic. Instinct stole him from the obdurate tug of gravity just as the expansive face of glittering black water snapped open beneath him with stunning vastness. Cringing from it on a stab of wild panic, Haku snapped into place mid-air with a stunning lurch that had nothing to do with the umbrella in his hand. Stunned and gaping, he floated down onto the skittering surface of the water holding the lame parasol to his side. Cagily tucking it away into the whispering edge of his tatter cloak, Haku stared down into the blue depths as the winding breeze of his disquet chased the placid lapping waves in curling eddies around his feet. Wobbling uncertainly Haku stood on the surface of the undulating water in abject astonishment.

It bore him up dutifully!

Not since he was a true God had the elements obeyed him so completely!

Gentle gusts were born from his shock, plucking him up off the water only to set him foundering awkwardly in a whirling eddies like a newly hatched fledgling trying to master flight. Haku threw out his arms and found himself buoyantly weightless even without his umbrella. Amazement lifted him higher still on the edge of billowing gust. Fear of heights forgotten, up he rose as he danced aloft along the edge of the singing wind swelling beneath his feet. But his trilling elation was short lived as darkness plunged silently from above. Scrambling out from under the dropping shadow, Haku whirled darting and swooping around the smoldering rain of hot green fire as it roared by and smashed into the black water below. Fleet as a sparrow he fled from the hissing plumes of acrid black smoke, lifting his eyes up the sheer face of Aburaya's back.

Writhing viridian crowned the bath house making the coiling black smoke glow with embers.

He could not hear them nor could he feel the heat.

Haku felt himself sinking as agonized terror filled his chest with leaden dread.

And he went utterly cold knowing she was somewhere within them.

Even as doubt wailed inside his head a wind was boiling beneath him. It detonated at his back with all the force of the grenades. A shrieking squall propelled him like a bolt from him bow, hurling him skyward with such speed his sight blurred. Grinding his teeth Haku punched his hands forward, joining and pointing them tip like an arrow's head as he cut his way through the crushing force of the singing air. But the stinging tears streaking down his cheek evaporated as he pierced the smoldering wall of the ember choked air. Through heat and smoke Haku swam, coughing and cringing behind his mask from the biting reaching fire as he searched for signs of Sen. But his heart tightened in a vice of dismay as licking tongues billowed out of the scorched mouths that once had been windows as more and more of the roof caved sending guttering green plumes roaring reaching out of the openings.

Then the sound of bells and screams cut like a knife through the blazing roar.

Surging sideways through a choking curtain of ash Haku found himself hovering at a familiar rail yet unburned by the spreading inferno. Dropping to perch on the cold tiles of the balcony Haku struggled to see through the cracked and filthy windows. Bilious horror surged in his dry throat as spindly shadows crawled across the broken walls within, illuminated in the fiery glow of the emerald flames spilling and spreading through the archway of what once had been Yubaba's office. Struggling to understand what was happening; Haku drifted closer only to recoil in quaking horror as bells rang over and over filling the interior with echoing shrieks of agony. As his hammering heart hummed in his ears filling his bones with the urge to fly, Haku realized these were not the bells he so bitterly feared.

In that same moment the clamorous ringing produced a final wrathful scream. A spider's bulbous body lurched up out of the gloom only to hurl something down at its feet. Whatever it was landed with such savage force it rattled the boards beneath Haku's feet. Jolted forward by the impact Haku knocked against the windows and finally understood. Again time slowed as sound and feeling fled. Wearing monstrous truth, Shurui bent to grasp Sen's neck with the obsidian talons of her remaining hand. The rest hung limp and broken from the spider's shoulders broken by the gleaming bronze bells of the suzu in Sen's hand. Outlined by welling flames Sen's phoenix face gleamed in the dark as she sprawled on the floor knocked senseless by the impact.

And Haku knew in that moment with terrible certainty that the spider was going to kill Sen.

Rage conjured such a wind as his very blood boiled in his veins. A tempest smashed the windows, hurtling through the spinning shards to knock the spider sideways. Swift as the shadow of death he followed in its wake without hesitation. Thrice before he had been afforded this opportunity; first when he had saved Aki from the thicket of spiders in Ueno Park; second in the Uguisudani cavern when the spiders stole his family; and finally earlier this very evening when he had summoned the resolve to put an arrow to his bow. But thrice he had failed, falling prey to the weakness in his heart or the feeble strength mustered by his brittle mortal body.

Not this time.

Four was the number of death.

Hanoane flashed like lightening as she sliced silently through the smoke choked air. With a brittle pop the spider's neck gave. Effortlessly Haku took Shurui's head from her shoulders as he should have when first he met the spider. It leapt from her neck as if pleased to be free, spinning sideways as ferocious gouts of viscous black spurted up from the convulsing trunk of her body. Blood spattered his mask as he landed lightly on his feet holding Hanoane aloft, watching numbly as the spider's head bounced off the adjacent wall only to come rolling back. As it came to stillness in a tangle of black hair that blew about in the heat of the green-yellow fire Haku recalled how he had pleaded with Shurui in the Uguisudani cavern. He had pleaded for truce pledging his resolve not to take her life. She refused him, speaking to him as if he was an ignorant child.

 _This is war, Dragon. Those who refuse to fight will die._

With grim bitterness finally he understood Shurui's refusal. He lifted his blade for not just himself; for if he refused to fight others would surely die because of his reticence. Perhaps if he had learned this lesson sooner Karasu and Kubi would still be standing beside him. He had been a child indeed to cling to kindness hoping it alone could inspire peace. It was impossible to have life without death. That was a burden they all must bear should they hope to survive the two worlds. He could not save Sen from this fate no more than he could save himself.

Yet how he abhorred this terrible doom! How he raged against this fortune that turned them against each other! As the humans winnowed away at their world God killed God just as human killed human! He could see no end to the bloodshed and how that set him to despair! And so Haku was not surprised as Shurui's corpse transformed in the wake of her death. As it heaved and sprouted reaching needle hands he closed his eyes on the sight. Rather than fear it inspired only more desolation, because once this thing had been a God. Suffering and hate had twisted it into a demon. If given the chance it would spread its infectious misery until there was nothing left. Callously Haku wondered what good it would be to strike it down. More would follow in its wake. This he knew with cold certainty.

" _ **MINE!"**_

As the hideous chorus of its metallic voice rang with endless suffering, Haku shook with sorrow. The pathetic sound echoed in his hollowed heart inspiring such terrible rage. A feral shout of grief tore from his lips as he heaved Hanoane over his head. Her cunning edge cut deep, dividing the soft oozing flesh until it bit the boards below. But even this was not enough. Out of the death of one two sprang up from the writhing halves of its sullied corpse. If only kindness could be so prolific! And that inspired in him only more savagery. Haku struck forward with elemental force, blowing between the pinch of his fingers calling angry mistrals from the choking smoke churning across the ceiling. Wind broke across his shoulders so fierce it nearly flattened him to the floor. Obediently it divided around him, billowing by to catch the fledgling Forgotten, pummeling and dragging them back into the snapping green fire.

Strangely the blaze seemed to dawdle in the doorway as if afraid to enter. But hungrily the viridian tongues leapt up around the blots of black, eroding them obdurately even as they shrieked and writhed only to crumble into dwindling ash. At once nauseated by the gruesome sight and sounds Haku whirled to snatch up the spider's head and hurl it into the fire. Again it bloomed eagerly, devouring all that remained of Shurui. Cold with misgivings, he stared around a hand into the blinding fire until his exposed skin was blistered and his clothes began to smoke in the suddenly swelling heat. Still he stared fearing something might come trundling out.

Nothing did, and still, that brought him no respite.

Gritting his teeth and cringing from the crackling fire, finally he could endure no more. Turning his back on the blaze Haku blinked, momentarily stunned by how cold his face and chest felt. But the cold seeped into his chest as he whipped Hanoane to his side dislodging the blood from her edge. It hissed against the floor in plumes of steam as he swiftly returned the blade to its sheath and he became painfully aware that the smoky air was thick with the smell of burning blood and flesh. His feet barely touched the floor as he bent to scoop Sen from the floor. She sagged in his grip making him hoist her upright as he dragged her toward the smashed out windows. They both staggered as the ceiling in the hallway came crashing down behind them making the jolting floor angle backwards with a shuddering tremulous moan that shook his very bones. Throwing his harried attention over his shoulder Haku watched in mounting panic as the green flames poured forward through the archway only to pool up on the ceiling overhead. Coiling at the sight, Haku launched himself through the gaping windows out into thin air as the eerie yellow-green flames surged through Yubaba's office, erupting out of the windows, reaching after them with snatching searing long seeking fingers of fire.

Out up and away Haku hurtled; out into blisteringly cold empty sky away from the seeking blaze.

His anxious wind towed them between the monstrous columns of black drifting smoke pouring out of the roof in curtains so thick he could barely see as the entire roof caved inward. The roaring rushing sound of its collapse rocked the air like a rolling clamorous crack of thunder. It echoed inside his beleaguered chest as he spun backwards into a tight spiral that left him hovering mid-air amidst an angry buffeting billowing gale. As the sweeping clouds broke, Haku cringed from the slanting blades of orange dawn. He stared in shock at the rising sun before frantically searched the misty skies for Kuromi's billowing chute. But he had climbed so high he could see nothing but rising veils of white.

But he forgot the spider as Sen's arms slipped from around his neck. As her head lolled back off the point of his shoulder terror surged in his tiny breathless chest, forcing all the air from his lungs. Suspended there wreathed in the misting churning clouds, Haku tightened one arm around her waist as he shoved the mask up onto her brow with his other hand. He stared in horror through the filtering spray at her perfectly white face. Even her lips were white; white as Kubi's porcelain mask, which set another dour thrilling premonition humming in the marrow of his suddenly cold bones.

"Sen?"

He shook her gently but she did not rouse.

"Sen!"

Even in his arms still she remained beyond his reach! Fear devoured his insides like the green fire leaving nothing but ashy panic in its wake! They drifted for a moment then fell like a stone. Haku let himself fall this time, gathering stunning speed even as he clutched her close. Gritting his teeth as singing gravity gathered in his nauseated stomach, Haku stared through watering squinting eyes as they broke through the clouds into thin empty air. The glimmering mirror that was the blue-green Sea of Dreams stretched into forever as it arched away from Aburaya. Like a castaway trapped on a desert island, the fox stood forlornly on the tiny raised stone train platform. Suzume's water-logged robes were devoid of all color in the dawn making the God looked like a twist of living mist. Changing his angle of descent as the sea loomed ever closer, Haku's wild wind ripped tall white waves in his wake as he shot across the surface. These heaved ahead of him only to crash against the fox making him founder.

" _Dragon!"_ Suzume howled in fury as he spat and choked, "I _abhor_ being wet!"

Ignoring the God's ire Haku touched down and hefted Sen in his arms, sprinting over the shifting surface of the deep water as if it was solid ground until his feet found the wet platform stones. Suzume forgot his anger, wiping perfectly pale and blank with shock as his gold eyes fell on Sen. Gently the God took her from him and red ran in spreading rivulets down the fox's dripping robes. The sight of Sen's blood sent Haku crashing to his knees. Pain bloomed in Haku's eyes like flashes of light as Suzume followed, carefully laying her out on the wet stones. At once they began to stain red with terrible spreading blood! The fox snarled at him as Haku uttered a sobbing sound.

"Save your despair, dragon, and give me room to work!"

They both froze as Sen's lids fluttered. She left a red handprint on the fox's robe as she tugged the fabric feebly.

"Don't fight…!" She muttered weakly.

Suzume covered it with his blackened fingers. At once he was gentle with stark worry as he returned his attention to her.

"We are not fighting, child. Now save your strength. I fear with will hurt a great deal."

Here the fox turned her so he could glower at the ugly blunt blade of burned silk jutting for her side. The sight of it turned Haku's very bones weak and his insides sick! Grasping it firmly with his other hand Suzume ripped it out in one smooth jerk. Instantly his other hand clamped over the wound burning with blue fire that made the water sputter and spit steam. All the same Sen arched and scrambled in his arms as she threw her head back and screaming in agony dislodging her phoenix mask. It clattered against the stones as the sound hit Haku with a vicious stab to the heart that set him to his feet staggering backwards. Haku whirled and gusted away, dancing across the surface of the water grinding his teeth against a ragged moan.

But the sound of her cry still echoed in his hollow chest making him writhe with misery. By some mercy Sen sagged back into a stupor and reluctantly Haku returned to the edge of the platform, pacing it back and forth clutching and clenching his fists uselessly. Then he found himself staring in wordless horror at the short blade of spider silk where it lay on the stones between them. Hissing and fizzling in a salt water puddle, it dissolved sending bloody bubbles to froth the surface. A vicious wind blew out of him at the sight. It went raking and whistling across the water making whitecaps that crashed against and founder over the platform.

"Enough, dragon! You with extinguish my fire!"

As Suzume shouted again in utter exasperation hurriedly Haku waved off the wind. The fox shifted so that he was sitting cross-legged on the wet stones with Sen unconscious in his arms. Haku's hands twitched and tingled as he shook yearning to hold her. But he could not take her from the fox. The God still held blue fire against her side. Steam drifted around them as Suzume continued to growl.

"Are you injured?"

Haku blinked, looking at the fox askance before shaking his head mutely. Suzume was staring him up and down with a spreading look of revulsion. It robbed the God of all his usual anger.

"You are covered in _blood..._ "

His harsh voice was hoarse as he choked on the last word. Tearing off his mask Haku stared at it. He could barely see the white for all the black spattered across its curves. Water splashed as he fell to his knees on the edge of the platform submerging and scrubbing it vigorously. But then he saw the blood on his arms and on his chest. Stunned, he wiped a hand across his face only to cringe it came away bloody. His stomach heaved as suddenly all he could smell was the terrible stink of blood. Shoving his mask into his tatter cloak Haku dropped into the shallows, submerging entirely before straightening to scrub his face over and over until salt was burning inside his nose. As his insides continued to crawl he rubbed until his cheeks were raw and he was soaked to the skin. Haku coughed and choked, spitting and spitting as still he tasted blood on his lips. Even as he eyes stung he dare not close them! When he did all he could see was Shurui and Jouma's heads! They were spinning and spinning through the memories of fire that flickered behind his eyes!

"Idiot! Stop before you drown yourself!"

The fox snarled anxiously dragging him from the nightmarish memories.

"Where are my wife and children!?"

Lurching upright heavy with water, Haku blinked at him for a stunned moment of confusion. Then he scrambled to produce his compass from the hidden folds at his side. The tiny bronze locket was one of the last surviving gifts Onsen had given him. As he cracked it open the tremulous needle swung to the south with a swiftness that indicated proximity. Behind the burning bulk of Aburaya's bones Haku caught sight of the wafting sheet of silk atop the cliffs.

"There!"

Suzume whirled to stare. As he did he barked orders.

"Find them!"

Haku cast a long look at Sen's pale white face as his insides surged and eddied with a wild riot of terrible sensations. His reticence stirred up another whistling wind. But the fox averted his hesitation as he pronounced an astonishing truth that revealed things had indeed changed between them.

"Go. Trust me to care for her as I trust you to care for my family."

Haku's chin jerked up and he stared. But the somber God only regarded him with a rare expression of angerless patience. Catalyzed, Haku sprang aloft in spraying plumes of hissing froth. The fox gasped, shouting after him things Haku did not hear as the God dwindled into a tiny blot of white and the tracks gleamed in small lines of silver beneath the blue waters. To his right the sheet sandy cliffs dipped in and out of sight blowing the sweet cool air of early morning. All too quickly they turned tainted with the reek of burning things as he circumvented the bath house's smoke stack and darted around the blackened building's hull. Reluctantly he looked and cringed from what he saw.

The roof was completely gone; so was most of the building's front. But the front bridge held even though it ended in thin air. Inside the fire was beginning to dwindle but the heat rolling off the coals was tremendous against his back as he touched down on the opposite side of the bridge. Darting forward he caught up the edge of Kuromi's chute and peered beneath to no avail. It had snagged on the blackened charcoal branches of the great pine that Shimizu hacked down. As the sheet billowed back in his gusting breeze ashes crumbled across the blood spattered cobbles beneath, scattering from piles of empty black silk steel armor. It took Haku a moment to realize these were the remains of spiders. The sunlight had reduced their corpses to cinders. Grinding his teeth as bile rose again in his burning gullet, he retreated from the ghastly sight, sprinting down the stairs leading to the harbor only to be forced to slow and pick his way between piles of armor littering the steps.

Hundreds were strewn through the street and the restaurant district became a graveyard in the early dawn.

Ghosting past the broken faded listing facades, he paused beside the stone marker shaped like a frog's head that stood atop the steps at the second sharp corner in the winding streets. The empty blue sky and the stark shadows angled through the vacant streets made the abandoned shops look all the more forlorn as he hesitated beneath the rusted broken eye that once flashed and winked with humming green and red magic lights. Haku searched the shattered panes of the saccharine pink tea house across from him only to follow its leaning roof line to the faded apple green store front and further still to the adjacent a powder blue façade that separated from the squat shanty hidden behind its cheery lie. It leaned precariously as it ready to fall at any moment. But nothing so much as moved in the early morning, not even the flitting flash of mushi or the scuttle of tsukimonogami. Finally he could take the ringing silence no longer. Haku shouted the names fretfully.

"Lin! Okesa! Kuromi!"

Then he realized his own stupidity. Kuromi would not be out in the daylight. For a moment he had forgotten the girl was a spider. But Haku came to perfect stillness as a sound echoed off the lonely rack and shamble ruins. He spun toward it listening with every fiber of his body. Again it glanced off the ruins below, resounding around the first sharp corner and filtering up from the harbor steps. A breeze blew out of him, stirring the dust at his feet as every hair on his neck stood up at the eerie sound, because somewhere in the distance someone was crying bitterly. Compelled forward by the wind that suddenly swelled at his back, Haku leapt down the steps and landed lightly only to spring forward into a sprint as he found himself chasing the sound. His heart was hammering in his ears, throbbing in his clenched fists as cold sweat beaded on his lip. Cold quelling dread hummed in his bones as he followed the sound around another familiar hard right, bypassing again the sharp slope of steps, landing and skidding to a halt on the wide court of granite stone perched on a hill. A fleet of boats moored on the rocky shore at its foot, scattered in foundered schools overturned at odd angles as if confused by where the night river had gone, because there was nothing but a nodding expanse of dewy green grass at their sterns.

The granite guardian frog was usually slick with green moss.

Today the statue and flagstones were spattered with black drying blood.

Numbly Haku stared as wind poured down the steps in his wake to stir her hair and clothes. He knew as soon as he turned for the harbor that he would find her here. It was still cold and early, hence the flies had not yet found the expansive stain that spread across the sloping ground. It spilled out from under Kubi, flowing over the edge of the top step and down the stairs below. Kubi had not faded away as dead Gods do. She was both and neither as he was. In both the worlds she was the only being of his ilk Haku had ever met. And now she was gone. Again the crushing sense of desolation pressed down on him and all at once he fought to breathe as his lungs felt as if they had filled with burning cinders. They were in his throat, spreading to his eyes making them sting as he stumbled forward only to collapse to his knees beside her only to slip in her blood.

Violent gusting wind blew out of him as he ground his teeth against a sob.

He fought the sound with bitter fury.

How could he mourn her when he still shook with the vibrant memories of Kubi's life! Her wicked smile; the spicy smoky scent of her pipe; her soft white neck; her vicious practicality and the affection that melted in her dagger eyes when she looked at her children. He burned with fresh shame and misery as he remembered how roughly she had kissed him; nearly seduced him, then teased him mercilessly by blowing smoke in his face. She was so real in his mind that he railed denying what was undeniable, because her endlessly staring empty eyes haunted him even now. The hole she left in his heart echoed cavernously. Haku uttered a choked gasp, pressing a hand over the wound as it hemorrhaged misery. Tears skated down his cheeks line burning lines of fire that made him ashamed of how much he found he loved the irascible vexing woman only now that she was dead. As if dreaming some terrible nightmare he reached shaking fingers to close her eyes forever. Sinking back onto his heels he barely realized he had picked up her bloodied mask. This he placed over her face, staring at the dour frown without seeing

Mute with shock he sat there listening to the distantly hush and ebb of the whispering grasses until again the sobbing rolled up the harbor steps. Haku shook himself as if rousing from sleep as the sounded echoed loudly from under one of the overturned boats, perfectly reflected and magnified off the adjacent hull until it reverberated up the steps, ringing inside his chest. Still afflicted by distress it took him a moment to hear. Eventually Haku rose with difficulty and stumbled down the bloody steps only to crouch on a massive boulder beside the foundered craft. Peering inside he found pressed into the deep shadows collected in the bow a tiny spider woman.

Hiding from the rising sun, she was dressed in a disheveled black yukata more suited to house service. Obviously not a soldier, her back was to him and her face hidden in the tangled thicket of her long ink black hair. Clearly he saw the keen blade that protruded from her flank. Haku frowned at it in horror as he realized it was forged from spider silk. One of her sisters had stabbed her in the back. He found the betrayal all the more shocking. Awkwardly she gripped it with a pair of tiny hands as if wanting nothing more than to pull it out. But the angle was wrong. She could not pull it free. And all her remaining hands struggled to press a blood soaked wad of fabric to the wound. More blood smeared the stones beneath her. There was so much blood on the steps Haku did not realize some belonged to another.

Confronted by the sounds of her suffering Haku momentarily forgot his grief. He found himself compelled to offer this spider help and it confused him to no end. How was it that the same creatures could inspire in him such animosity and such compassion? Strangely Haku decided it did not matter that she was a spider. She was still a God and he could not turn his back on her. Sardonically Haku's mouth twisted into a grim frown as it seemed he had not abandoned kindness entirely. But what good would such kindness? After all the terrible things he had seen and done in Yubaba's office, it could not wash away the blood on his hands nor could it fill the cavernous hole in his chest. But, still. He had taken life this day. Now he was afforded the chance to give life back. Haku did not understand why, but that alone motivated him to act.

The spider, however, had been smart enough to find safe harbor in the shadows beneath the overturned boat. If she was smart then she could also be cunning. Remembering Suzume's words, he was careful of his kindness. Haku held out his hands proving them empty lest they inspire her to violence. He, however, called a wind to coil tightly beneath his feet and kept it there as a precaution. Softly, so very softly, Haku called to her with sincere concern.

"Do not be afraid."

With a gasp the spider knocked and scrambled against the hull of the boat as she whirled revealing her tear streaked face. He did not know her, but like Kuromi, she was entirely too pretty and too young to be a spider. Fear gleamed in her wide ruby red eyes as she scrambled into the shadows panting in panic and bent with agony. Her tiny hands were stained red with blood and painted the hull with wet palm prints. But there was nowhere for her to flee to now that daylight washed over the courtyard. Still holding out his hands gently Haku repeated himself. Only now did he realize they were same words he spoke to a sobbing human child he had found not far from this place ages ago.

"Do not be afraid. I only want to help you."

They rang with truth in his ears, which was perhaps why the spider blinked at him, looking him up and down in confusion as if surprised by his offer of service. She flinched as he produced the sloshing gourd from thin air and offered it carefully.

"This will help, but it will also hurt."

He sat it down inside the edge of the shadows and withdrew as all the while she watched him with careful red eyes. Hesitantly she shifted to snatch up the gourd with the blood stained blades of her hand. Uncorking it she sniffed the strongly smelling camphor water, glancing at him uncertainly. Haku nodded encouragingly making meaningless motions with his hands.

"Pour it over the wound."

Looking back and forth between him and the gourd, finally she clumsily doused her side with the cloudy green water. The blade of silk fizzled and dissolved as the spider hissed between her teeth, collapsing on the ground cringing in pain as she dropped the gourd. Haku caught it, sidling closer and craning his neck to frown at the slowly closing wound. Again he offered the gourd, quietly instructing the spider in the use of its magic.

"Drink. It will taste of mud, but it will dull the pain and return your strength."

Eagerly the spider followed his direction, pulling a long swig only to gag.

"It does taste like mud."

She hushed in a small voice that matched her tiny stature.

"Are you a healer?"

Her sharp ruby eyes gleamed in the gloom as at once they were studying him. They grazed across his armor before centering on the sword at his waist and the blood on his hands and knees. The sudden intensity in her gaze made him creep back into the sunlight as her whisper took on an edge.

"You don't look like a healer… You look like a soldier."

Haku blinked, not sure how to answer.

"I… I am many things."

The spider's gaze sharpened as her quiet voice turned suspicious.

"If you're not a healer then why are you helping me?"

He could not blame the spider for her reservations. As of recent, Gods had not proved themselves to be trustworthy creatures. The blade in the spider's back was proof of that. And that made him terribly sad. Haku sighed wearily, stirring a breeze beneath the upturned boat.

"You would have died. I am so very tired of death."

As he stood taking the gourd with him the spider cried out in tremulous panic.

" _D-don't go!"_

Haku leapt aside on a startled punch of wind as she reached after him with blood hands. With a shriek she yanked them back as they hissed and smoked in the sunlight. Floating down like a bit of dandelion fluff Haku perched on the edge of the opposite boat shaking and struggling to calm the riot in his chest as fear pitched his fluttering heart into his mouth. After a moment he dropped down, keeping one hand on Hanoane as he returned to crouch again beside the boat. Haku peered in and found the spider balled up in a stricken knot, rocking back and forth clutching her folded arms tightly against her chest. Melancholy afflicted him further as he found himself wary of the compassion she yet inspired in him. But the memory of the agony the burn on his hand had caused moved him beyond his reticence.

Slowly sinking over his heels and folding up onto the edge of the thick shadows, Haku pulled off his bloody gloves and held out his bare hands for hers. The wide bar of new scar tissue was bright and pink against the palm of his right hand where he had grasped the furnace wheel in Aburaya's boiler room. But this hand bore a heavier mark. Haku tried not to look at the blot of black on his finger tip. Hesitating for a moment to study the scar and the stain curiously, the spider finally held it out her burned fingers. They were raw with blackened blisters that set his insides scrambling anxiously as he remembered the way Kuromi had smoldered. The sunlight could have killed her. She cringed and squirmed as he poured splashes of water before tucking away the gourd and massaging the broken skin until the blisters healed. All the while she blinked up at him with such awe embarrassed heat climbed into his cheeks making him want his mask. He had to clear his throat to speak.

"I cannot stay."

As he attempted to explain himself all at once her many, many hands tightened on his to the point of pain. Her pretty face went blank with terror as her red eyes burned like coals in the gloom. Haku jerked, leaning away rigid with disquiet barely restraining the urge to call his wind as she struggled visibly. Again, he could not fault her for being afraid. Finally the spider marshaled through, straightening with dignity as she slowly took back her hands. Absently smoothing her wild hair and wrinkled robes, she sat on her heels somehow managing to bow low with formal propriety in the narrow berth of the boat. As she did the spider produced a hurried hiss.

"I have no right to ask anything more of you, honorable sir, but I beg you! If you see a weasel woman carrying two babies please help her!"

Haku rocked back on his heels momentarily blinded by shock as a violent wind gusted out of him, stirring tiny whirlwinds of dust and making the up-turned boat shift and creak. Haku's hand shot out to grasp the lip of the boat lest it blow over as the spider cringed, glancing up at him uncertainly. She bowed her head again to hide from the intensity in his gaze as he breathed a testing question.

"What is her name?"

The spider offered truth in a rush as if afraid he might disappear at any moment.

"Her name is Lin, honorable sir. She has a scared face and a missing arm. Perhaps that's why she's so angry and mean. She'll refuse your help, sir. She might even try to hit you, but please don't let that deter you. She is friendless and so very far from home."

Haku almost snorted at the apt description of his sister. But the spider's concern so startled and unbalanced him that he rooted in place. Softly he inquired choosing his questions carefully.

"What is your name?"

Again she was staring at him as if he was terribly strange for asking.

"M-my name is Fumiko, sir."

Haku nodded and continued politely.

"How did you come to be here, Fumiko-san?"

At once the spider was shaking as she clenched her many fists whispering miserably and beginning in the middle of her trouble making little sense but revealing much.

"I was a slave in the Shitamachi brothels. I escaped only to become a slave again for a spider who called herself my mother. But she is _not_ my mother! She is a murderer and a liar, but she is so much stronger than any of us. She brought us here on a train but we ran out of food and coal and grew desperate."

As her voice broke, quietly Haku encouraged her to speak again. Still he strained to understand the spider's place in the tangled blood-soaked tapestry of their story.

"Why did you help the weasel?"

Vehemently the spider spat the next as if proud.

"Because she is a true mother! She wouldn't leave her children just as I wouldn't leave my sisters. We are the same. Shurui was going to kill the weasel and her children so I stole them away."

Fumiko needed little encouragement as she sat back balling twisting her hem in her fists. Her pale face was a flash of white as she battled back the thick straight fall of her black tangled hair binding it tightly into a knot atop her head in the style much favored by Megumi. It revealed the severe contours of her face as again the spider bowed in despair.

"I thought I could save her. I thought I could save my sisters too. Shurui _sold_ us to the Laughing Moon for bowls of rice! The shōjō told tales of gold and coal. I thought I could find it to buy us free and bargain with Shurui. But Shimizu was right. I am a stupid little fool. It all went wrong and there was nothing she could do. Shurui used her bells to make Shimizu hurt me...! When I woke up the _sun_ was rising, there was _blood_ everywhere, and everyone was _gone_ and _I was so alone...!"_

As the spider collapsed back onto the stones into a fit of the same uncontrollable sobbing that had summoned him here. Haku sat perfectly still as the familiar names rang in his ears like the terrible bells the spider queen once wielded. All the while the violent wind of his disquiet went tearing up and down the hill at his back making the hulls of the boats crack and creak as they knocked against each other. Still hanging on the edge of the craft to keep it from blowing over Haku stared at the spider as his heart went empty. But his head was churning endlessly, because not all spiders were alike. Putting his gloves back on, with calm that was a lie, he tried to offer Fumiko solace.

"Shurui is dead."

The spider jolted visibly, rocking back onto her knees. Her mouth and eyes went perfectly round.

"Dead!?"

She breathed the word in disbelief. Hand after hand flitted to cover her mouth. Slowly she turned her head to the side staring at him askance with sudden recognition.

"You!" She gasped as awe returned to her, "You are the _dragon!_ "

All at once the sun broke over the top of the ruined restaurants. It flooded down the stairs in a torrent of blinding brightness. Dawn stole even the darkest shadows from the bow of the boat. Fumiko screamed in agony as she burst into smoke.


	41. Chapter 41

**HAKU**

The sound of Fumiko's scream slapped him in the face. He rebounded swift as the wind stirring at his back. Cursing and struggling to catch hold of the filmy invisible fabric whispering at his back, he tore his tatter cloak from his shoulder in a panicked flash of intuition. In it he smothered the thrashing spider, fighting to wrap her tightly as she fought him with a strength that did not match her tiny stature. The female surged upright knocking both he and the boat away. Haku landed hard against the hull of an adjacent boat, momentarily stunned as he watched her collapse on the blood slick stones quaking in terror beneath the filmy gray covering. The bald bright sun fell on her back. But she did not burn and Haku sagged in relief. Standing and rubbing his smarting head where it had struck the boat, carefully he approached only to have the huddle mass jitter away.

"Stop...!" He entreated in exasperation, "Hold still otherwise light will get in!"

"The sun!" The spider was shrill with dread. "The sun...!"

"The sun cannot hurt you beneath my cloak."

Haku pronounced with assurance.

"How!?"

Her voice pitched up into a squeak that only served to intensify his ire because he had no answer. Casting about truth fell from his lips surprising him just as much as he surprised the spider.

"It is a piece of my soul. I am unburnt by the sun, and so long as you remain beneath, you shall not burn either. Now hold still. I am going to pick you up and carry you otherwise your feet will burn."

Fumiko shrank into a tight cold ball beneath his cloak as Haku carefully collected her into his arms, tucking and wrapping her tightly in a shrouding cocoon of the fabric. But she was a light, small burden for all her troublesome flailing. He patted her shoulder awkwardly as she shoved her head under his chin, pressing against him shaking so hard he could hear her teeth chattering. Haku sighed and tried to console her once more but his words were utterly useless.

"Do not be afraid, Fumiko-san."

Still she shook violently in his arms as he carried her up the distant edge of the steps to avoid the pooling blood. Haku gritted his teeth until something popped painfully in the rear of his jaw as he stared stolidly at the granite blocks trying not to see at Kubi's body as he passed. It took all his self-control to defer the raging welling grief suddenly stealing his breath. Somehow he mastered it, shoving it down into the deep echoing hole in his heart. Suddenly exhausted, Haku stumbled. Jerking himself back to attention he chose his steps carefully lest the cloak flap open. His progress was slow as he climbed the steep steps blinking in the blinding sunlight pouring over the roofs. The light winked in and out between the buildings as he pressed into the fading indigo shadows clinging to the lee of the battered storefronts. As he walked Haku became painfully aware of the ache in his ankle. Though Suzume had mended it with magic it throbbed and stabbed with every step. But he could not fly for fear the wind would uncover the spider he carried.

"W-where are we going!?"

Fumiko began tremulously as he paused atop the first flight to rest. He answered her simply trying not to be testy.

"To find Lin."

Fumbling with the edge of his cloak he withdrew his compass and followed the pointing needle under the hissing lines of shredded lanterns draping across the streets of the abandoned restaurant district. The needle led him to the same faded pink leaning shack of a tea house on the outskirts of town in which he and Okesa had sheltered. Loitering on the front step searching the opaque windows uncertainly, he shifted Fumiko to one arm and spared a hand to knock. Suddenly she was struggling.

"Where are we?"

Before Haku could answer a porthole cracked open in the face of the rickety green door. Much to his surprise Kaonashi peered through. The gaki's shattered mask had been carefully fitted back together. Wherever small chinks were missing the holes had been filled with shiny white hardened silk. The empty oculars of the ghost's mask went perfectly round as he recognized him.

"AH!" Kaonashi cried tremulously. _"AH! AH! AH!"_

Haku skittered back as the gaki yanked opened the door and grabbed him with spindly arms, hauling him inside only to slam the portal shut behind him. Dark enveloped him as Haku's sun struck eyes swam with gray sparklers. Haku froze as Kaonashi appeared out of the gloom, bowing to him twice with silent courtesy before bending beside him to poke his burden with a single timid finger. At once Fumiko surfaced from his cloak, throwing back the shrouding hem only to come face to face with with the ghost. She ripped from Haku grip with a screech, clambering up to perch on his shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor as she used him like a spring board and launched into the rafters. Stunned, Haku could only watch as Kaonashi fled with a startled gasp.

" _Gaki! There's a gaki in here!"_

Fumiko shouted from above frightening the ghost further as she lobbed handfuls of silk making him shy and shrink in milling circles. Haku cringed as silk bombs detonated around the gaki spraying him with sticky filaments that made his insides crawl.

" _AH!"_ Kaonashi wailed pitifully.

The ghost gave up and hunkered down onto his knees bowing beneath his arms quaking in terror. Suddenly Fumiko's barrage turned lethal as it took on an edge. Sharp lances slammed into the floor sending Haku scrambling back against the wall, silk sliced humming silk as another spider darted through the gloom in a thicket of trundling legs. The second spider cut down every bolt with deadly precision sending sharp shattered shards ricocheting off the walls and floor.

"Knock it off!" Kuromi shouted in exasperation. "He's not going to hurt you!"

As the other spider ignored her, hurling a lance right at her feet, the exasperated soldier retaliated with a single silk bomb. Somewhere overhead Fumiko screeched in frustration as a familiar hollow pop ended her volley in a filtered fall of silken threads.

" _Bitch!"_

As Fumiko began cursing Kuromi's glowing red eyes narrowed disapprovingly. Again one of her deft white hands sent something small hurtling through the air. A tiny pop echoed through the rafters followed by furious muffled mumbling. Peering up overhead the soldier spider snorted.

"Why don't you cool off for a while, sister."

Straightening with confidence that no more violence would rain from above, Kuromi patted Kaonashi consolingly as the trembling ghost cowered in her shadow. Her voice was gentle as she showed the gaki kindness rarely afforded to his kind.

"It's okay. She won't hurt you."

Kaonashi was not convinced. He claimed one of the spider's hands clinging to her like a child as she crept over to crouch beside him. Still stymied, Haku started as she knocked twice on his breast plate and peered at him worriedly with the glowing red coals of her luminous eyes.

"You okay, Kohaku-san? You stink like blood again."

All at once she was patting him with the flock of her nervous flitting hands. Batting at them helplessly, he blinked over and again fighting to clear his vision as slowly his eyes adjusted to the dark. Thick sheets of silk blocked the windows letting in only the thinnest beige glow. It filtered faintly through the small room, outlining dimly the rotted rug and empty scorched hearth where Okesa released him from the Oni collar.

All at once Kuromi's attention darted sideways and she fled towing Kaonashi with her as Lin resolved out of the deepest shadows with predatorial silence. Umi's blade glinted in her hand and there were shreds of spider silk in the wild tangles of her hair. Gritting his teeth and shuddering as his mind crawled with unknown horrors, Haku stared at the eerie bulge on her belly as it struggled monstrously in the gloom. As she crouched beside him it took Haku a moment to realize the folds of silk held her kits. The boy sighed and struggled, kicking his sister and making her squall softly. Biting her blade, she absently patted her children the feral expression never left her dark eyes. They sharpened as they followed little spider. Kuromi skittered sideways dragging the ghost behind her as another thicket of shadows stirred on the floor. Kaonashi turned his face from side to side frowning uncertainly. As the female struggled to hold it down, it fought her many hands with just as many of its own.

"Rest, sempai!"

More red eyes opened to glower out of the dark as a rasping voice choked wretchedly.

"Fumiko…! I heard her voice…!"

At once the house spider plastered to the rafters began making loud muffled protests. Lin flinched from the sound, biting her blade so she could gathering a handful of Haku's armor as if ready to yank him up and run. Cringing as if in anticipation of some punishment; Kuromi's glowing ember eyes flashed at the roof.

"You know her, sempai?"

As she inquired hesitantly, her superior officer's eyes darted overhead. Recognition ignited her dull eyes as she barked vicious commands.

"Is that her!? Get her down!"

Scrambling upright Kuromi sprang from her crouch and scaled the wall on bare hands and feet, disappearing into the flooding darkness filling the rafters. Kaonashi followed beneath her making anxious sounds as he shuffled back and forth, to and fro, circling and reaching his spindly transparent hands. Shredding sounds accompanied by falling pats of silk heralded Fumiko's return. The house spider dropped from above and landed hard. Haku and Lin jolted in unison as the impact rolled through the boards. But Fumiko sprang forward, clambering along on her many, many hands as she shot across the floor with a stricken sob.

" _Shimizu!"_

The spider collapsed into the struggling thicket of the soldier spider's arms. All at once they were sharing a tender embrace that made it clear they were anything but sisters. Blood flooded Haku's cheeks as he looked away in surprise. Looking equally awkward, Kuromi skulked down the wall to perch above his left shoulder. As the ghost scurried over to reach for her happily she leaned out over him and grabbed his chin, busily inspecting the repair work she had done for his mask. Lin, however, did not look away. Still biting her knife she snorted as if suddenly making sense of something.

"Ouch! _Ouch, ouch, ouch!_ Be careful, those are broken!"

Shimizu complained mildly, but Fumiko was appalled.

"What happened to your arms!?"

"Nevermind," Shimizu breathed as she choked on her words beneath the strength of the wonder and the relief stealing her voice, "How are you here!? How are you alive!?"

Haku's head jerked up as several of Fumiko's fingers shot up to point at him. She hushed the word with the same awe as earlier making his cheeks burn.

"The dragon!"

All at once the soldier spider's bloody red gaze turned on him. His insides went utterly cold as he picked Shimizu's features out of the dark. Beaten, burned, and bruised; she was laid out on the floor to the left of the hearth pillowing her head on a bale of rotting tea. Fire had taken most of her hair. She had a fat lip and a black eye. Her shattered armor had been piled beside her and she wore the same black rough-spun undergarments as Kuromi. But compared to the other spiders she was a giant; taller even than Kenka; all arms and legs in the dark. Still staring at her askance, Haku saw that three of her six limbs were trussed in splints. The rest clutched at Fumiko. All the same, Haku's hand wandered slowly to Hanonane's hilt as his insides rang with silent screams of warning. Shimizu's eyes narrowed as she saw the movement.

"I know you," she muttered weakly, "We raided your house."

"Sempai!" Kuromi hissed in mortification, "Don't bring that up now!"

Ignoring the little spider, Shimizu addressed him directly bearing her needle teeth. Wet with venom, they gleamed in the dark.

"Why'd you save us?!"

He was tired of being asked that question. Everyone in this world and the next seemed to doubt his kindness. Was it so rare and unthinkable? Explaining what should have been common made him utterly weary. So he ignored the question and turned to Lin.

"How did you get here?"

The whites of her autumn eyes gleamed in the dark as they never left Shimizu. Lin was forced to let him go so she could take the blade from her teeth. She directed the point at the ghost.

"Kaonashi. He was there when we touched down. He brought us here."

At the sound of his name the gaki turned toward them.

"Ah?" He tilted his head from one side to the other comically. "Ah-ah?"

Picking up a battered bucket from the peripheries of the room the ghost glided through the gloom holding it out and shaking it timorously. Haku seized the edges and ripped it from the ghost as he started inside. Within were six folded fans finished by bells. Four were red, gold, and silver. Two were black, black, black! The ghost shied cringing as wind ripped through the room tearing at the spider silk curtains. Gasping and scrambling, Kuromi rushed up the walls clambering above to re-paste them down as Fumiko loosed a shrill screech.

"It's okay!" Kuromi called reassuringly as her hands pat-pat-patted endlessly. "I got 'em!"

Haku struggled to speak as she continued to stare at the fans.

"Where is Okesa!?"

"I... I don't know." Lin returned quietly.

Stunned, Haku did not know what to say. Dropping the bucket into his lap he snatched the compass from the hidden folds of his cloak and strained to see the needle in the dark. But it only spun and spun pointing slowly and listlessly telling him she was not in this world. Haku stared at it stupidly. What had become of the cat and her shamisen? Where had his little sister gone? Haku's voice was a sick whisper as he searched the dark and found another face missing.

"And Ikiri?"

Here Lin's face fell. Her quiet voice was devoid of emotion.

"She burned."

Haku was already sitting otherwise he would have fallen. He had not cared for the brash foul-mouthed female. But in his mind he saw a flash of Amano standing in the swirling snow. Suddenly he was a thief once more. He would remain so until the ends of his day. As he struggled to breathe his aching burning chest felt terribly small. Yet it echoed cavernously leaving him feeling empty and bilious once more. He did not realize he had made a sobbing sound until Kuromi placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. More and more joined the first, patting and smoothing soothingly as she knelt beside him. They used to make his skin crawl, but no more. In a rush he found himself relieved that the little spider had survived sunrise. Seizing two of her hands he squeezed her fingers to keep from flying apart. Then Kuromi withdrew once more, skirting the wall taking Kaonashi with her as Lin shot to her feet beside him. She kept her only hand for her knife. The straight blade gleamed in the dark. Her bright eyes were just as hard and sharp.

"Get up."

Grabbing the trailing edge of his tatter cloak Haku dragged it across the filthy floor and dumped the bucket of fans into its folds. Wearily he obeyed, climbing to his feet using the wall, fastening his cloak around his neck. It dissolved around his shoulders like a shadow as Lin interrogated him stolidly.

"Suzume and Sen?"

Haku gritted the words between his teeth as a stab of pain went shooting up his shin.

"I left them on the train tracks."

She nodded then hesitated as her eyes turned feral. Lin whispered the name as if afraid it could summon her somehow.

"Shurui?"

Haku stared through the dark trying not to feel the memory of the jarring crunch that went rattling up his arm as his sword cut through the spider's strangely brittle neck. Bile rose in his throat as he barely resisted the urge to be violently ill.

"Dead."

Haku bent against the wall as the weight of the spider queen's ghost as climbed up onto his shoulders next to Jouma. He flinched again as Shimizu repeated the word incredulously.

"Dead!?"

The soldier spider barked an expectant question as if used to being obeyed.

"How!?"

Again Shimizu's ruby eyes glittered like embers as she stared at him expectantly over Fumiko's bowed head. He gave her what she wanted, spitting the words with frosty callousness to hide just how much they cost him.

"I took her head from her shoulders with this!"

Hanoane flashed and sang in the dark as he drew her in a whipping crack of wind.

"Then I cast it and her body into the fire!"

Unfazed by the blade, Shimizu nodded in grim satisfaction, collecting Fumiko closer. The house spider's eyes darted like coals in the dark as they rounded on him round with reverence. Their gratitude made him nauseous. No one, God or mortal, should be glad for violence or death. Shoving Hanoane back into her sheath, Lin followed him closely as he lurched for the door.

" _Wait!"_ Kuromi cried after him.

The disconsolate edge in her cry froze him in place. Throwing his eyes sideways to the little spider Haku stared at her long and hard then he reached his hand for one of hers. Suddenly shaking, Kuromi looked back at Shimizu and Fumiko. Her pale face wiped with panic before it twisted in misery. Her red eyes returned to him wracked with conflict. She flinched as her superior shouted.

"Go! Anyone who stays is that blasted shōjō's slave!"

Kuromi shook her head even as she soldiered through her gleaming tears.

"I said go!" Shimizu shouted furiously, "That's an order!"

Steeled with duty Kuromi sank to her heels with prim propriety. Glancing between the spiders timidly, Kaonashi sat beside Kuromi mimicking her pose. He cringed as the soldier spider sat up spitting in fury even as Fumiko struggled to hold her down.

"Damnit, you stupid little brat! I said get out of there!"

Kuromi remained. Bowing her head, her face fixed with determination as she disobeyed.

"No. I will stay and help repay our debt."

Our debt; she said _our_ debt. Suddenly she counted herself in the ranks of the spiders once more. Suddenly stunningly angry, Haku wanted to pick her up and carry her off as the ease with which she gave up made him want to stamp his feet in fury. Had Lin not bit her blade and pulled on him anxiously he would have done exactly that. Because he knew the work the Laughing Moon Tea House required would put the little spider on her back. And he would not have it! Shrugging out of Lin's grip fleet and canny as a wind, Haku turned on Shimizu making the struggling spider lapse into stillness.

"How much did Shurui sell you for?"

She blinked rapidly, baring sharp teeth as she spat the amount bitterly.

"10 gold coins!"

Haku nodded grimly. It was a fortune to the destitute. But it was a paltry amount compared to what he had taken from Yubaba's vault.

"Done!" He announced quietly.

Haku produced the coins from the furling folds of his cloak and held them out. In his cupped palms they glinted like stars in the dark, piled heavily on the blood stained surface of his sharkskin gloves. At once Fumiko darted forward to collect them, rejoining Shimizu and Kuromi wearing the same terrible expression of awe he was growing to abhor. As Shimizu counted the coins over and over she turned her battered face to the side staring at him out of the corners of her bloody eyes as if fearing something so great he could not begin to fathom.

"I… I owe you a great debt, dragon." She grated anxiously, "One I fear I cannot ever repay."

Ah. So that was it. Haku refused, pronouncing the words gently.

"You owe me nothing, spider."

He bowed nervously out of habit.

"I only ask you remember what _kindness_ feels like. Repay it some moment in the future when it means nothing to you but the world to another."

Here he reached for Kuromi appealing to her in earnest, but he could not lie to her anymore and bleak premonition was humming in his bones. Truth slipped from him in a desperate rush as he offered his empty hands.

"Come if you wish it. You can eat doughnuts. You can go to school and wear shoes. I am already your friend, dear Kuromi; whatever you become will not change that. But if you come with me you must know that you can _never_ be human."

She shook from head to toe a her face wiped with stark horror. Kuromi stared at him as if he had struck her. Suddenly a light went out in her ruby red eyes as her voice broke on the edge of disbelief.

"You… You lied to me?!"

Burning with mortification Haku sank onto his knees and bowed low and formal at her feet. With his brow pressed to the floor he forced himself to tell the miserable truth.

"Yes! Yes, I lied to you and I am ashamed!"

How could he explain that he had lied to save her life? She had forced him to agree in Onsen's entryway otherwise she would have let herself burn at his feet! He could not stand by and let her die. But how to explain? How!? His head jerked up as she scrambled away from him shaking her head so fiercely her tightly knotted hair ripped free of its bindings. She pointed with all her hands, stabbing the accusing blades of her fingers at him as her face etched with fury.

"But you're human! If you can do it so can I!"

Weighted with sorrow and regret Haku reached for her helplessly trying to explain.

"I may appear as much, but I am not. I am both and neither, Kuromi. I cannot escape our world any more than you can. It will follow wherever we go!"

Scrambling forward she held out the tremulous flock of her white hands as if they horrified her. Hissing between her teeth her eyes burned with self-loathing. In that moment she became exactly what she thought herself to be. Even as her skin turned glossy black and hard; even as her lithe body elongated and grew bulbous and insecterous; even as she gnashed her venom slick fangs and clawed the ground with the blades of her obsidian talons shaking the great sweeping serrated crest that crowned her lobed head, the suffering that burned in her four red eyes remained that of the sweet white faced girl. And Kuromi shrieked in a thunderous roar that could belong only to a God.

"I don't want to be a monster!"

Somewhere at his back Lin's kits were screaming. Their mother was cursing him, calling him terrible names and yelling at him to run. But Haku remained. Pleading now, he lifted to his feet on a swelling gust, melting forward begging Kuromi to see the truth. She was forgetting herself in the sway of her despair. Desperate now, Haku reached for her still.

"You are not a monster, Kuromi! Even now you are beautiful and kind and capable! It is deeds and thoughts that make a being monstrous! All you need to do is to be who you already are! The rest will follow!"

His words were utterly useless. She towered over him raging blindly not hearing a word he said.

"You're a liar! How can I believe anything you say!?

Shimizu was thundering at Kuromi's back.

"Stop, you stupid brat! I said stop! _That's an order!_ "

But the spider did not hear her superior. Kuromi spat hissing venom in his face! With a gasp Haku jerked back cringed behind his already up thrown arms as the fizzling poison burned like biting ice! He stumbled, staring in horror as it corroded the silk steel plates she had crafted for him, dissolved his garments into ash like cold fire! He he not been wearing spider crafted garment surely his face would have melted right off! Even as she tried to kill him Kuromi had saved his life! Suddenly there were clubs of silk in Kuromi hands. More silk hissed through the air as Shimizu cast tow lines of weighted silk, ensnaring Kuromi's arms as she struggled upright pulling her back. But the soldier was already battle weary and missing three of her arms. A free truncheon smashed her sideways into the wall as Kuromi whirled and caught her in the temple. Another sent Fumiko hurtling against the wall above the hearth. Startled wind erupted beneath his toes as Haku sprang high, darting between two cudgels of silk as they whizzed by above and below his body. He twisted and swam as they yanked back up passing so close his skin crawled with terror. Ducking lithely and dancing through the air he wound and bent and wove to avoid the vicious assault unleashed by the veritable forest of her arms. As she ripped the filthy carpet and the splintered the boards below, still she howled.

" _You said you'd help me but you used me! YOU USED ME!"_

Haku barely heard her over the clamorous thunder of his heart. Fear finally found him as his ankle gave, jarring him lamely as he landed wrong. Pain robbed him of speed just enough for one of her clubs clipped his shoulder. The stunning impact sent him spinning. He crashed onto the broken floor momentarily blinded by pain. Still spinning and spinning as Haku sprawled beneath the deadly lifting thicket of Kuromi's arms.

"Ah!"

Kaonashi implored as he surged between them holding up his hands.

"Ah! Ah!"

A club took the ghost full on the head. Down he dropped to his knees lolling dizzily. Such a blow would have killed another being, but Kaonashi was already dead. The hit broke off a chink of his mask. It bounced off the floor and hit Kuromi square in the chest. Even though it was a tiny piece of porcelain Kuromi shook with the impact the rest of her attack halted mid-air. Dazed from the blow, the tremulous black shadow fingered the gap in his mask in mounting panic.

"Ah…?" He moaned pitifully, "Ah…!"

Dropping her clubs, Kuromi sank to her knees in front of Kaonashi realizing what she had done. All at once she was a girl again stricken and trembling with horror. Her circling hands snatched up the shard and struggled to fit it back his mask. All the while she choked the words over and over as she had on the roof of the Laughing Moon.

" _I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

Haku could barely hear them over the wailing of the kits. Then a hand had him by the scruff of his neck. Lin dragged him out into the blinding sunlight and the spiders could not follow. Blindly Haku stumbled along behind her. He ran even as his ankle and his shoulder burned with agony. Instinct propelled him forward even as Lin caught him again. Stumbling and flailing Haku gasped and scrambled on the lip of the cliff as he found the ledge under his feet. Above him the ruined hull of Aburaya's bulk continued to smolder like some enormous smoke stack. Distantly it roared a muffled constant growl akin to the hushing hiss of the sea. The heat it emitted was tremendous and the waves at its feet steamed. Wobbling there with a wind pushing at his chest, Haku's eyes tore from the sky to fix on a flash of red-gold on the sea of blue that stretched into forever behind the wreckage.

Around the edge of the ruin Haku saw Sen's phoenix mask gleamed in the sunlight. Sen waved at him vigorously, almost falling into the deeper water. Suzume caught her, pulling her backwards cringing from the splashing water. Haku heard the fox's angry barking echo off Aburaya's smoke stack. At the sight of Sen healthy enthusiasm Haku's feet left the ground. His heart swelled into his throat on a fluttering wave of elation. Then Lin plucked him from the sky, hurling him onto the dead grass as the fluttering spider silk chute furled away from them. Stunned and spent, Haku lay there panting as Lin pinned him there with her only hand with force. Pale with fury and outrage, she chewed the edge of her knife with her bared teeth. All the while Lin shouted at him silently with the ferocious glare of her feral eyes.

"Apologies..."

Haku wheezed tremulously as he froze and shrank from her wrath.

"Apologies, _o-nee-san..._ " (1)

As he offered the polite title contritely abruptly the crushing pressure of Lin's fist abated. Surprise wiped clean the dour lines and the twisted pinks scars afflicting her brow. Staring at him askance with a cryptic expression, absently Lin smooth her kits as Makoto and Kokoro wailed and struggled in their slings. Then her fingers returned, shaking slightly as they hesitantly smooth over his tangled hair. As Lin gazed down at him her face transformed with such powerful concern and rare affection. His older sister was not a gentle being. She was of the earth; hard and practical. But gentleness was not unknown to her. Haku was forced to close his eyes, gritting his teeth and swallowing the barbed point of pain rising in his throat as the tenderness gleaming in the lush forests of her maple eyes threatened to dredge all the grief and sorrow he had exiled in the hollowed depths of his heart.

Then his skin singed with cold as a shadow darted across the sky. It blotted the sun if only for a moment, but then an eerie prickling wind washed over him heavily laden with the smell of exotic incense. Haku's eyes jolted open as his instincts scrambled in his bones with thrilling stabs of warning, dragging his attention to the end of the bridge as if he still wore the enchanted glasses he had lost long ago. The lip of the bridge had been empty a moment ago. But now a human female perched on the very edge as if untouched by the swallowing drop below her heels. He stared in repulsion. She was naked and smeared with ash and soot so thick her skin was black. Lin took the knife from her lips to shout the human's name in a panic.

"Kiri!"

It struck him like a blow for Haku had not recognized the former shrine maiden! There was nothing left of the brash insufferable female who favored yellow stripes and human poisons. All that remained was a pitiful husk! As she swayed Haku lurched up off the ground on a violently disquieted wind. The same wind he called to save her set the female teetering backwards insensibly. Surging forward he lunged, parting the gale and catching her wrist as she tipped. But as he touched her frozen horror crawled up and down every inch of his skin in cold skittering spider legs. His stomach heaved with nausea as beneath her the paper thin flesh and felt the brittle bones beneath. She stank of burned things as all the hair had burned from her emaciated frame making her even more gaunt and terrible. She was sickness and suffering embodied, and whereas he should have been inspired to compassion, she repulsed him so completely he almost let go!

Staggering backwards pulling her away from the ledge Haku dropped her. He jolted away trying to escape as she tipped after him. Her brittle hands seized the front of his arm otherwise she would have fallen. Frozen with sudden stunning panic, Haku could only stare as Ikiri looked up at him. Her eyes were brilliant yellow and ringed with ruby red. They stared at him unwavering, pupils dilated like a bird of prey's.

Then Ikiri blinked. Her eyes were mismatched and dilated with only shock. As she took another step forward Haku skated backwards on a rippling gust born of the terror screaming in his frozen sluggish blood. But the human only wobbled and collapsed forward onto her hands and knees. Haku startled again as Lin hurriedly shredded a section of Kuromi's silk sail. Biting her knife once more, Lin darted by and crouched to wrap the thin cloth round the sick female. Haku could not bring himself to protest given the human's wretched state. But all the while he stared wildly from the corners of his eyes doubting what he had seen. Again it felt as if a cloud had passed over the rising sun, but there was not a shred of mist left in the sky. All the same, he was left cold and shivering.

Terrible, terrible premonition was ringing in his bones.

Ringing and ringing like Shurui's black, black bells.

* * *

 **Notes:**

お姉さん. This polite honorific means, "elder sister."


	42. Chapter 42

**SEN**

Barefoot as she'd been as a child Sen waded along the train tracks.

Just as anxiously she hurriedly sloshed through the churning water.

Because when she woke up Kohaku was gone.

She'd hung her sandals by their lacings around her neck, rolling up her soggy pant legs and tucking her tabi into her belt. But even though she was soaked to the skin she didn't so much as shiver. As her eyes locked on the distant cliffs with grim determination she began to steam as heat spread through her body driven by the crackling fire in her heart. Behind her Suzume sloshed in her wake completely out of his element. Similarly soaked, the fox didn't even bothering to hold up his waterlogged robes as he foundered and splashed, spitting and growling in mounting exasperation.

But as the bath house loomed over their heads, the sooty haze rising from its crown cast a wide swath of dark shadow across the train tracks ahead. Sen halted in the swirling shallows as the line of gloom divided the world ahead of them. Like a slice of night at odds with the blindingly bright blue morning sky, it fell over the smoke stack and the exhaust tube adjoining the tower to the main building. Beyond them the black mouth of the train tunnel yawned as if trying to drink up all the water in the sea at her back. In front of the behemoth archway perched a great granite boulder that made the tunnel look small. It stood stolidly ignoring the rest of the world. Seki-no-Taro was crowned with a thick layer of ash. Like swirling snow cinders floated down in thick curtains that turned the air and water murky. Before Sen would wade on Suzume seized her by the back of her belt.

"Stop!" Suzume gasped. "I must rest!"

Panting and puffing, the exhausted fox bent over his knees. As he forced himself straight Suzume whipped his head and shoulder vigorously in a futile attempt to dry off. Sen cringed from the spattering curtains of water that flew from his plastered hair and clothes making him smell like wet dog instead of smoky incense. As the fox continued his futile attempts to get dry Sen sidled away in the ankle deep water and stared up at the massive black billowing clouds of smoke. Tipping her head back further and further she bent herself backward to watch them lift in slow slanting curls from the distant ruined roof. It was hard to believe that moments ago she'd been all the way up there. The angry nagging throb in her side was proof enough of where she'd been and what she'd done. But all that remained as far away as the burning balconies above.

Then her eyes darted through the gloom to something on the cliffs.

She could barely see it around the edge of Aburaya's bulk.

Slogging sideways to the very edge of the shallows she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of it again. All at once her heart slammed up into the top of her throat as she saw the indigo flash of Kohaku's armor. Her eyes went straight to him as if directed by the magic glasses he used to wear. But those were melted and broken, long gone. All the same, she saw him perched on the very lip of the cliff like he was about to jump off. Before she realized it Sen was waving her arms wildly and in spite of the stab of pain that went lancing up her side. Lin was with him as well. Despite the deep dark blue tone of the water Sen nearly dived in stupidly thinking she would swim over to the foot of the cliffs.

"Child! Child, stop! You will _drown!_ "

Suzume barked in panic as he hauled her back through the sloshing water.

Sen splashed down hard as he yanked her off balance.

The fox's charcoal hands gripped her firmly even as she pointed and struggled.

"I see them! I see Kohaku and Lin!"

Suzume's wide gold eyes flashed in the sunlight as they darted to the cliffs.

"Where!? Show me!"

As she pointed Sen froze and her insides went cold as she found them missing. She sagged suddenly as the weight of her soggy gear pulled heavily. Like the lead weight in the pit of her stomach, they pulled she to the bottom of the shallows. Effervescent salt water welled up around her chest making her gasp as it seeped in behind her armor making hissing gouts of steam erupt from the nooks and crannies of her gear as the heat of her body guttered in despair.

"They were right there!"

Sen breathed desolately as her teeth began to chatter.

"I saw them, I swear!"

But before Suzume could voice his doubts, before Sen could consider even her own, a violent wind ripped across the surface of the water that set her cringing back against the fox's knees. Through the whipping stinging spray it stirred off the frothing water's surface, Sen watched something shoot through the curtains of cinder raining through the choked air. The swiftness of its passing divided and parted the sooty gloom letting in a brief blast of light. Fast and fleet like some kind of bird, it arched around the smoke stack before angling straight at them. Sen hauled herself up out of the water cascading tributaries as she scrambled upright to escape being overwhelmed by the choppy waves kicked up by the thrilling surges of wind. But as the thing dropped from the sky only to touch down lightly on the surface, sprinting across the water like it was solid ground.

In that moment Sen realized it was a man and not a bird.

Stunned, she found herself rooted in place as Kohaku gusted forward holding his arms open. She blinked and blinked and blinked, cringing back not trusting what she was seeing, because he had flown here from the cliffs! The umbrella was nowhere to be seen! He had flown like he had when he was still a dragon. And she didn't understand! Still she stared at him, seeing everything with perfect clarity. His pale gaunt face was grave in the early dawn, covered in heat blisters and smeared with soot. Wind after wind blew out of him, furling the charred indigo fabric of his clothes and making his scorched armor drapes knock back and forth against his plates clinking and clattering loudly. The gusts made her stumble as each hit her physically; screaming as they circled in tightly coiled eddies replacing the smell of salt with the scent of sweet summer rain.

But the world seemed to go silent and still as Kohaku's incandescent jade eyes caught and held hers. They were large and luminous, glimmering with turbulent relief as they went perfectly round beneath the singed flying fringe of his thick inky black blue hair. Sen gasped as he crashed against her like one of his winds, bowling her backwards as he snatched her into his arms, locking them around her waist and squeezing so hard the breath rushed from her lungs. Gravity dissolved the moment he touched her. Her stomach flopped giddily, rising in her chest as he clutched her close, bending his head to press his frozen cheeks into the crook of her shoulder. Her skin burned at the contact sending a shivering jolt through every inch of her body as up they floated, up into thin air spinning in a giddy tight spiral that set her singing heart flying up into her throat.

Then Suzume caught her ankle bring their spin to a jarring halt.

The fox anchored her to the ground before she could go floating away like a bit of spray.

"Dragon!" The God barked angrily, "I demand you bring her down at once!"

Kohaku surfaced from her shoulder frowning sullenly as they slowly drifted down. But as Suzume released her, sloshing backwards to give them room, her feet never touched the water. Sen was still weightless in Kohaku's arms. Her thrilling heart was pounding in her ears as she stared at him, working her mouth soundlessly making squeaking noises. Her attempts to speak tugged the corner of his lips into a smirk as his gleaming eyes darted at her sideways, flashing like abalone shells as they caught the sunlight.

"You can fly!" Sen finally gasped, "How can you fly again!?"

At once the ghost of the smile on his lips faded as he went somber.

Anger tightened his exhausted features, crackled in his eyes as they turned out over the water.

Slowly it was replaced by a cryptic expression that belonged to the dragon he'd once been.

"I regained some of what was lost."

It wasn't an explanation and Kohaku didn't elaborate. Setting her down in the lapping water, Sen wobbled as the frigid train rails bit into the bottoms of her bare feet. But Kohaku he kept one of her hands. Turning to the fox on the heels of another whipping wind, Kohaku bowed slightly in a gesture of such stunning grace Sen found herself gaping again. Then the dragon furled his hand toward the south before demurely offering the God his gloved fingers.

"Hayashimi awaits you on the cliffs, Suzume-san. She and your children as safe."

Suzume's face wiped into a blank white mask of wild relief as all color fled him. Even his inky hair bleached before their eyes, turned white in the brightly beating sunlight. But the soggy fox looked almost frightened as he stared at Kohaku's palm uncertainly. Then anger cracked the thin line of his lips, curling them back into a sharp-toothed snarl as the God's gold eyes gleamed cagily.

"I am not wind or water, dragon. Fly low and slow."

Solemn faced, Haku inclined his head once more with honest apology.

"I fear I can promise neither, Suzume-san."

As the fox grasped Kohaku's hand he frowned, blinking rapidly realizing only now what had actually been said. Suzume let loose a shrill yip to match Sen's loud gasp as Kohaku catapulted aloft in a shimmering hissing spray. In the same moment Sen's arm jarred taut and her head snapped back onto her opposite shoulder as she jerked after him, flying up, up, up into empty air, ripped out of the heavy hold of the towing water by the eager fingers of whispering tickling wind! Thrilling weightlessness swelled and filled her chest as the water fell away beneath her bare feet. Her eyes watered and her sight blurred as nosy seeking gusts went riffling through her billowing hair and clothes. She barely had a chance to take a breath and regain sight as they paused mid-air, distantly parallel with the burned out windows of Yubaba's apartment.

Sen was surprised to see that parts of the building had actually survived.

The servants' quarters and the kitchen were mostly intact; so were the eastern gardens.

But then they angled sideways sharply, making Sen scramble to catch hold of Kohaku's arm as her stomach performed a dizzy flip inside her gut. He glanced back at her reassuringly as they sailed above the flashing blue-green face of the inland sea, gaining speed as they swiftly circumvented Aburaya's hull, passing around from the east to avoid the ash cloud the stiff wind forced to the west. From her high vantage Sen saw that even though the dead brown side garden and the dry rock basins of the outdoor bathing pools had survive, the front hadn't fared nearly so well as the back.

Everything on the front was gone, collapsed inward and down when the atrium gave; lost in the billowing black smoke. Sullenly the proper chimney to its side blew a reedy thin plume of black dwarfed by the cloud of ash lifting from the ragged edges of what little remained of the green tiled roof. Flashes of green winked among the swirling curtains of black, glittering like fireflies in the night as the rising sun picked them out as it lifted blindingly bright in the bare blue sky. And as the clouds of embers wafted and rolled, parting for a moment, Sen caught sight of the listing scorched point of the patinaed tower.

All that remained was the bridge.

Standing firm on its posts like a stalwart ribbon of red, it ended in thin air as if on purpose.

The ruined restaurant district flowed down the lolling swells of the hill.

Beyond that was the dewy expansive sea of gold-green grass.

Further still was the sleepy dark line of Clock Tower Town.

But all that winked out of sight as the ground drifted larger and larger as they righted slowly. Again Sen's insides lurched up into the top of her chest as they began to sink. As the dry grass and the broken building lining the cliff seemed to stretch and grow in an eerie growth spurt Sen caught sight of Lin so suddenly her heart slammed up into her throat making her jolt mid-air. The reedy God Woman was kneeling on the opposite side of the bridge beside the burned and broken body of the pine tree. Something was hulled on her knees hidden behind a ragged shred of the beige sail of spider silk that billowed away from them as they sank to the ground with painful, aching slowness on the swelling pitch of a violent gale.

The moment her feet touched the ground Sen's knees buckled. She would've fallen if Kohaku hadn't dropped Suzume's hand so he could whirl to catch her. Overcome for a brief moment, she sagged in his grip as her head spun dizzily and her legs trembled and dissolved in the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through her pumping blood. She watched in mute sympathy as Suzume suffered similar after-effects of flight. The fire God dumped face-first forward onto the ground where he lay quaking in horror digging his hands into the dry grass and squeezing until dirt extruded between his clenched fingers.

"Suzume!"

Lin shouted his name in a thin shrill gasp, nearly bowling over whatever that huddle thing was as she darted to his side. Crouching there wild and windswept in her filthy ragged slip of white, Lin flinched back on her heels as Suzume seized her around the middle, clinging to her and burying his face in her lap shaking violently as if afraid he might go flying back up into the air at any moment. Transferring to her mouth the knife she held clutched in her only hand, Lin bit the blade with her sharp teeth so she could hurriedly smooth her only hand across the fox's quaking shoulders.

Kohaku flinched as the huddled thing left forgotten in Lin's wake unfolded. Sen stared stupidly at the face of the human woman who emerged from beneath the spider silk. It took her a moment to recognized Kiri, and horror rose in Sen's chest on a wave of nausea. Burned and filthy; eroded by pain and grief; there was hardly anything left of her but bones, skin, and a haunted hungry look of suffering. And the former shrine maiden's expression turned fierce with animosity as it lifted to center on her with slowly collecting recognition. Sen jolted again at the bell in her heart loosed a bone rattling knell. At once her blood froze making her slow and stupid. She could only follow as Kohaku dragged her backwards with a coiled winds sprouting beneath her stumbling feet.

For a second Sen thought they were going to take flight again.

But then Suzume ripped her from her shock as he barked a hoarse command.

It was more plea than demand.

"Take us home, child! Take us home at once!"

Shaking herself, Sen scrambled at her side for the thin slip of wood she'd pressed flat.

Somewhere in the very bottom of her geihobako she found the bath tile. Her newly mended side throbbed as scrambled her fingers after it. She almost climbed inside the box in her frustration. As she rifled around chasing the slippery bit of wood Sen was surprised to find several things she'd lost. Her bow and bell fleched arrow was back. So was her Suzu. It was a pretty cool trick, actually. Apparently anything that came from the box that got lost would eventually return. She'd have to remember that. The only thing that hadn't come back was Sengen's dagger. The empty scabbard was still tied at her side. The blade was lost somewhere in the servant's wing. And they weren't going back to look for it now.

Ripping her mask off her brow and tossing it into the box along with her sandals and her socks, Sen gritted her teeth and lunged after the tile ignored the gnawing pain. She almost crowed in success as finally she caught hold of the tile. Slamming the box shut and squishing it flat and small, she shoved it down the front of her burned armor. The closest one was the listing green plank hanging on its hinges in the pocked faded pink wall painted with the word café. There was nothing left of the café except the wall. Still, the door closed and she slapped the tile onto its face. As always it stuck like a magnet. Biting chewing magic surged up her arm as she yanked it open and stared through. Chihiro would've been sobbing and hanging on the door at the sweet sight. But as was becoming common, everything remained strangely far for Sen.

Silently she looked through the archway into another world.

And it was home. Home.

On the other side it was night whereas on this side was day. The cold of winter breathed across the threshold but on this side it was deepening summer. Up might as well have been down. Sen found herself frowning as she saw that things had changed. The blue green tile floor had been polished to the point that it gleamed in the dim square of light filtering through the window over the sink. The beleaguered fridge and flame scorched range were gone. All new stainless steel appliances had replaced them. Two industrial ovens topped by six burner ranges sat back to back where there had only been one sad sorry stove. Cutting surfaces ringed the back of the cooking area so new they still smelled strongly of cedar. These were stocked with blocks of knives, neat stacks of metal mixing bowls, and jars of various sized whisks, spatula, and other oddly shaped cooking implements. A long tall bar stood along the side of the stove facing the stairs to the front hall. A service bell gleamed in the middle of the immaculately clean stainless steel surface.

Someone had pulled down all the herbs that had been drying in the rafters. Instead three bars of industrial lighting hung between the rafters over the work space. Instead of a beaten worn rub a non-slip anti-fatigue plastic pad covering the flat etched stone that was the heart of the house. The doors had been pulled off of the cabinets. The one's above the sink offered rows of bulk spices in ordered canisters. Faintly she could smell sweet saffron and basil. The one's below yawned open to offer pots, pans, and skillets Sen had never seen in the kitchen before. The dishes had been organized and stacked on new shelves on the far wall beside the telephone closet. The only things that hadn't changed were the orange sitting cushions in the nook, although they weren't covered in cat hair anymore, and the indigo split curtain in the doorway leading to the front hall.

The kitchen was dark if only for a moment.

As soon as Sen opened the door a wild white flame erupted in the old hearth.

Anxious to get across, Suzume clambered at her back. Sen stumbled through as he shoved her out of the way dragging Lin behind him. But as the fox encountered the changes to their house he came up short bleaching perfectly white. Onsen shook from her foundation to roof in surprise at their return. The kitchen rocked with tremor after shuddering tremor as each of them passed through. Dishes and pots rattled loudly as dust filtered down from the ceiling. As Kiri shuffled her way across hunched over beneath the thin slip of silk Sen looked back through at Kohaku only to find him loitering beside the charcoal bones of the pine tree and the lantern. He was staring at Kiri's back wearing a blank expression of unguarded alarm. But Sen was too tired to care right now.

As Kohaku hastily joined her on the other side of the doorway the slider slammed right in her face. She didn't get a chance to pluck the tile off the other side as several locks winked into existence barring her from opening it again. Onsen made it clear she didn't want them leaving now that they were back. Suzume sputtered in fury gesturing sweepingly at the changes to the kitchen. Lin guided Kiri to a seat on the bench in the nook as immediately she started shivering violently. Sen found herself staring and staring at the human or the burned fuzz of what was left of her hair. Sen wasn't looking at any of this. She was staring at the black cloud that seemed to hang over the human like a plume of smoke.

The bell in her heart hummed distantly; so distantly she almost didn't hear it.

Kohaku must've seen it too.

He took one look at Kiri and fled to the old hearth.

Turning in a circle not sure where to start, Sen shied from the door as it rattled in its tracks.

"Onsen!" Natsumi hushed in exasperation. "Onsen, please stop! You'll scare the guests!"

Finally the locks clicked open and the slider rattled sideways sullenly.

If a door could be sullen Onsen made it so.

Sen found herself face to face with old yuna. Her wood smoke hair was tucked into a messy bun and her yukata was disheveled. She wore no shoes or shawl to guard against the bitter cold rolling in from the porch. She was kami and didn't need to. Her unnaturally large almond eyes went perfectly wide as she gasped. At once her tiny hands seized hers and squeezed until Sen winced in pain. Pulling her into the kitchen and shutting the slider Natsumi cried out as she saw Lin. Tottering over sobbing openly the old yuna threw her arms around the weasel's middle. At once pink cheeked with embarrassment, Lin awkwardly smoothed the yuna's hair with her only hand until her kits squalled and wriggled in their wraps. Natsumi gasped as she pulled back. Her face cleared with ecstatic joy as she touched them lightly appealing up to Lin wordlessly. A sly smile twitched the corner of her mouth as she peeled back the lips of the silk to reveal the babies hidden within. As she did Suzume forgot his rage over the remodeling to peer over his wife's shoulder. The fox and the yuna wore the same expression of stark awe as tiny burbling noises filtered from within.

"A boy and a girl!"

Natsumi cooed as she stood on her tip toes to see.

"Makoto. Kokoro."

Lin hushed in quiet affection as she touched the yuna's hand to each baby.

They were so caught up the God children that they forgot Kiri entirely until she lurched forward over her knees and threw up on the floor. Sen stared, trying to shake herself out of the strange numbness keeping her rooted in place. At once the old yuna's turned onto the shuddering human only to shrink staring askance at the burns.

"Oh, dear!" Natsumi fretted. "Poor thing!"

Kiri jerked away as the yuna tried to touch her shoulder consolingly. As the shadows beneath Kiri writhed and thickened Onsen began rattling all over again. Sen didn't blame the house as her insides skittered anxiously. The squirming black reminded her way too much of the Forgotten that once wore Kiri like a dress. The footprints burned into the mural upstairs were enough of reminder. As Natsumi shot to the back slider, casting a frightened glance up at her, Sen looked back wordlessly. The yuna stood on her toes to turn an arrow of wood pinned to the middle of the slider like she was twisting some kind of doorknob. Many bath tiles that hung on hooks arranged about the arrow like the numbers on a clock. Sen hadn't even notice them. Each was neatly labeled: Kumomi Shrine; Amano; Matsuzaki Bay; Ueno Park; Satako. One gleaming red tile hung away from the others. It was named Sen. Looking at it she knew somehow that it led back to the faded green door on the cliffs beside Aburaya. It was to the shrine tile that Natsumi turned the arrow on the door. As the tile snapped in place like a magnate sticking to metal, and the paper went dark the yuna pulled it open on the snow blanketed courtyard.

Kiri shrank from the sight vigorously shaking her singed head.

Natsumi flustered, silently appealing to her again in pained and panicked confusion. As she lurched to the door Sen's hand followed a spark of intuition as the turned the arrow to the Amano tile. Again the face of the door went dark and Sen pulled the slider open on the dark interior of fisherman's house. It smelled the same: dirty dishes, old oily grilled fish, and the thick stink of cigarette smoke. It was a mess too; piles of trash and plates full of burned out cigarette butts clotted every surface. Asleep in his clothes slouched in a battered arm chair in front of a bright winking television the fisherman snored fitfully. Sen stared at the empty bottle on the floor beneath his hand. There was another one not far away. Making unhappy eyes at the mess Natsumi shuffled to the chair. She patted the broken-nosed man's shoulder gently.

"Amano-san? Amano-san, wake up?"

He snorted loudly, rolling over ignoring her.

Glaring at the interior, especially the bottles, Suzume barked loudly.

"Wake up, Amano Tetsuo!"

The human jolted upright in his chair sluggishly wiping the drool off his face; it was red and sweaty and his nose was still crooked. He was still wearing his stocking hat and coat and obviously drunk. But as he blinked and blinked and blinked, rubbing his gray eyes as if he didn't trust them, slowly he sobered. They were perfectly round as Lin gently ushered Kiri across the threshold. Amano stared for so long Sen was afraid for a moment he didn't recognize Kiri. Then he fell forward onto his knees knocking his chair backwards. His left hand was covered in the same thick scar tissue that climbed the side of his neck evidence of the boat fire he'd survived. Amano reached for the human female wearing a stark expression of panic as if he was afraid all of this was a dream and she was going to disappear.

Kiri staggered forward.

Reaching for him with both hands, she dropped the thin shred of silk.

Amano caught her as she folded forward, collapsing bonelessly into his waiting arms.

" _Babe!"_

He breathed against her cheek in a sobbed choke. Sen's heart stirred distantly at the unadulterated joy that twisted the fisherman's face. It intensified to the point where it became painful. As tears streaked down his greasy red stubble roughed cheeks, Amano spared a wild look in their direction as Kohaku drifted in her shadow. Gratitude so severe it set him shaking gleamed brightly in Amano's pale gray eyes. Then without a word he scooped Kiri up into his arms. Carrying her into the adjoining room he slammed the sliders shut. Hurriedly Natsumi shooed them away from the portal and pulled the door shut as she blushed bright red. Frowning, she shuffled back into the kitchen peering under the table in the nook.

"Where is Okesa and her ghost?"

Again, it was all far, far away.

"I don't know."

Natsumi was stricken as she jerked around to gape up at her.

Her paper-thin hand floated to touch her mouth.

But she was too well manned to ask more. Sen was grateful for that.

"Hayashimi, stop! Stop at once!"

Sen's attention jerked sideways as Suzume flustered at the split curtain. Bleached white with apprehension, he shrank down the steps as if trying to bar the way Lin returned with a mop and bucket. The kits were still strapped to her chest and she had placed the upturned bucket over its top so she could carry it. At once Natsumi was hurrying to take them from her.

"Let me."

The weasel refused at first, gritting her teeth and glaring dourly.

"I have to work, Natsumi."

The yuna redirected her quickly, gentling peeling her clutched fingers away from the mop.

"My contract is older than yours. Rest tonight."

Lin blinked rapidly. Her face fell as her maple colored eyes turned inward as if remembering. Grimly her mouth drew into a thin line to match the fox's as her only arm folded across the silk slings holding her children. Suzume had Lin by the shoulders now pulling her behind him toward the back slider. Sullenly she followed, throwing a sideways glance in Sen's direction before she let him lead her out into the breathing cold. As they disappeared Sen got out of the little kami's way as Natsumi made quick work of the mess. All the while she kept glancing at her nervously out of the corners of her eyes frowning deeper and deeper until her brow was creased with tight lines. All the while Onsen's mothy presence gathered in the rafters until they were dark and creaking with the house's anxious presence. Sen watched the yuna's back, startling her as she caught the kami steal another glance.

She went red face first. Then she paled white as a sheet.

Sen's lips tugged into a wan smile.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Nana-chan."

Natsumi hurriedly looked away and that made her wonder what the yuna saw that upset her. The kami answered her question with a question to avoid the truth.

"S-should I wake the others?"

Sen shook her head.

"No. We didn't last time. Let them sleep. We'll be here in the morning."

Again Natsumi glanced at her uncertainly, picking up the mop and bucket. The handle rattled slightly as her hand shook and there was doubt in her tremulous voice.

"Will you, Lady Sen?"

Déjà vu hit Sen square in the chest. The yuna asked her the exact same question when they got back from Uguisudani Station. As she reeled it was her turn to answer a question with a question, redirecting the little God woman before she could ask how long they were home this time. Sen didn't want to think about that yet.

"How many guests do we have?"

It was a thoroughly Godish thing to do and she earned herself another startled glance.

"Only two; an elderly couple from Niigata. They are not bothered by snow and will be checking out this morning. Unfortunately the bad weather caused all our other reservations to be cancelled. We will have Onsen to ourselves tonight."

Chattering nervously Natsumi prattled on gossiping about the latest goings on.

"The Tokyo humans you brought are fantastic cooks. I have never had _fu-ren-chu_ food before."

Sen smirked as Natsumi sounded out the word French like it was entirely exotic. But to a God of Yamato the distant European country might as well have been the moon. Effusing now, the yuna continued to chatter.

"They offer such lavish meals and we receive nothing but praise from our guests. There was a write up in the food section of a local paper. I saved a clipping if you'd like to see it. Don't let the low attendance fool you, business is good and happily we can afford to pay them well. Naniko's cousin is renting the humans a small house in Matsuzaki Bay. I think it is helping them settle. The humans who visit easily overlook things. But living here can be… _unusual_."

Unusual: that was putting it lightly.

Frigid air breathed in through the back door as Natsumi went out to dump the bucket. It smelled strongly of snow. The exposed skin at her side tingled as the wind poked icy fingers through the hole the spider silk shard had left in the thick quilting of her gambeson. A phantom stab of pain twisted in her side at its touch. Gritting her teeth against a gasp, Sen collapsed to a seat on the edge of the bench as her heart was suddenly thumping loudly in her ears.

"A-are you alright, Lady Sen?"

She hardly felt Natsumi's frozen fingers tightened on hers as she knelt at her feet. Sen blinked rapidly to clear her graying sight, waving away Onsen's mothy fluttering. The house was in a panic over her head, making the rafter creak and moan all over again. She stared over the yuna's head at the gleaming blue-green tiles. They were the same color as Aburaya's roof tiles. But those were gone now and she could still smell the smoke on her clothes.

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

That was the best explanation she could summon.

"Please go back to bed and don't worry about us."

The whites of Natsumi's were luminous as they flicked at Kohaku. She flinched in surprise as he materialized beside her and the yuna's eyes went perfectly round as they saw him. Again the kami was white as a sheet and shaking as she bowed tremulously. Without another word she scooted out the back door, pulling the sullen slider shut. As Kohaku stood there in the dark Onsen snapped and popped scolding him agrily. As he placed a gentle consoling hand on the wall the house shivered contritely, hurriedly settling her boards and planks. Reaching across the distance between them Sen found his hand. It was shaking and he squeezed her fingers until they hurt. But the pain was far away as she pulled him to a seat beside her. Bending to unlace his sandals and tabi, thick pats of wet ash dropped from the tight leg wrapping as she uncoiled the filthy bands of fabric from his calves.

"C'mon. Let's get cleaned up."

She stood, gently taking his arm and towing him behind her. His hand slipped down hers until their fingers brushed as they had when he reached for her on Yubaba's balcony. But this time she caught them, holding them firmly as she pushed between the indigo split curtain. The bare boards beneath her feet hummed with each step as Onsen followed overhead like an invisible veil of smoke. And it felt like her head was floating off her shoulders to join the house's ethereal presence. Her detached state made everything look strange. Even the hallway stretched ahead of her dark and unfamiliar like she'd never walked these boards before. The open sliders showed the great room to her right. She could hardly smell the snow over the sweet fragrant scent of tatami. Inside both rows of sliders were drawn and guarding against the frozen night. Light filtered in from outside making the snow play in a cascade of drifting pale shifting shadows against the creamy paper making it look like a living sumi painting. In the filtered illumination the massive mahogany table filled it with its gleaming black bulk. And the mirror on the God shelf seemed to suck up every trace of the light as it gleamed like a gold watching eye. It was a stark contrast to the darkness filling the front staircase with ominous shadows. Sen almost expected them to be crawling with spiders as passed the empty welcome station. The reservation book was open and Sen stared long and hard at the date.

It was February 1st.

They had been gone a day and a night by spirit time.

But in the human world a month had past.

As the clock behind her ticked and ticked even the spaces between seemed to stretch.

Even Kohaku drifted away as her arm pulled taut.

It was then that she realized he was limping.

"What happened to your leg?"

Her voice was calm; so calm she almost wondered if someone else was talking through her lips.

He breathed the words distantly, making coals of anger kindle in her gust.

"It broke when I fell from the balcony. Suzume mended the bones but they ache."

She nodded wordlessly not trusting herself to speak.

Suzume was good at putting them back together.

He was getting a lot of practice recently.

Again the eerie sense of déjà vu prickled back and forth between her shoulder blades as she pulled him into the women's side of the bath wing. They'd done this before not more than a few days ago. She eased Kohaku to a seat on the bench just as burned, beaten, and covered in spider blood as last time. As if something intensely heavy pressed down on his shoulder he bent over his knees hiding beneath the tangled curtain of his blue black hair. His hands tightened against his knees until his bruised and cut knuckles were absolutely white. Numbly she stared down at him as the echoing expanse that yawned between her and everything else suddenly made her furiously angry because he was the last person she wanted to be so distant. The ghosts were inside her head again, pulling her further and farther out into that strange terrible detached place consumed by yellow-green fire.

But it was Chihiro who parted her way between the insistent specters.

Sweet-faced and smiling, she led Sen across the bleak void back to him.

Sen jerked bolt upright swaying on her feet as suddenly everything returned in a rush. Her side was throbbing in agony and she could feel the ache of every bone and muscle in her body. She could taste the terrible coppery penny flavor on death her lips. Her skin was burned and cracked to a crisp. And she could hear the spiders screaming inside her head as the black bell seemed to be ringing clamorously in the very marrow of her bones. Her ragged breath hissed between her teeth as suddenly she was shaking violently. Her brittle legs folded, dumping her between his knees. Kohaku startled upright as she forced her arms around his middle. The broken shards of her singed armor dug into her chest where one of Shurui's bolts had tried to punch a hole in her chest. Her cheek slapped against the hard pinching plates on his stomach as she struggled to find a way closer.

But this was as close as she could get.

And Sen burst into tears.

She could feel him melting as he slid off the bench, wrapping his long strong arms around her. Their armor clanked and scraped as he pulled her close, smoothing her wild hair and making soft hushing noises in her ear as his stubble rough chin rubbed against the corner of her brow. His face was so very warm, just as warm as his rain scented breath. It blew against the soft skin behind her neck as he whispered lovingly tremulous words.

"There you are… For a while I thought I had lost you."

Unfortunately that only made her cry harder. Sen bawled and sobbed and hiccuped all at once. She cried and cried and cried like the little girl she'd been. Until she was drowning all over again in a river of her tears. He saved her once more, pulling her up from the depths. His blistered lips whispered against her neck.

"It is alright, dear one. We are home!"


	43. Chapter 43

**HAKU**

Carefully, so very carefully, he poured steaming water over Sen's shoulders.

Beneath streaks of soot her pale skin was bruise blue where Shurui smashed her to the floor.

Huddled hugging a wet wadded washcloth, she gasped and cringed, squirming in pain.

Gritting his teeth and cringing with her, miserably Haku forced himself to empty the bucket. They were both filthy and raw. Soap would only be salt in their wounds. And he had spent so long at Aburaya that the thought of climbing into the massive tub while still dirty seemed a mortal sin. Perched on the raised deck beside the massive tub in one of the private bathing rooms, Haku dipped and poured the hot camphor scented water over her back until slowly the bruises and heat blisters began to fade. Finally she no longer flinched as the water ran down the long white curves of her hips. Her skin was soft and smooth beneath his massaging hands. She burned to the touch, and like a hot rock doused with water, the lingering moisture fizzled and steamed on her skin until the air was thick with torrid vapor.

The steam caught cloyingly in his lungs making him light-headed as he sweated profusely. Dumping several buckets over his head in rapid succession, Haku writhed as the stinging water found every crack, cut, and gouge. Soon the humming hurts singing his skin began to melt away into the heat of the water. As he took up the powder scented bar of soap and began viciously scrubbing his still smarting skin Sen repeated the same ministrations he had offered her. Through the wet curtain of his hair he glanced up at her naked skin as she knelt to pour water across his shoulders. Hard travel and even harder trial had carved the softness from her body until all that was left was lean and strong. The pinch between her silver brows did nothing to temper her hard edges. It deepened the new lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, glinting off the blades of light in her eyes.

Haku glanced at the new scar that cut a cruel pink line across the edge of her belly.

He found himself staring at it in mounting agitation as he remembered the blade of spider silk.

His hand tightened on his washcloth until a circling breeze churned the vapor.

Then Sen dumped a bucket of water over his head.

Coughing and gasping, he lurched sideways sputtering and flailing gracelessly while fighting the hair from his eyes. As he glared at her incredulously she ignored him, dipping another bucket of water from the big tub and crouching beside him to pick up the soap he had dropped. Still ignoring him she suds herself thoroughly and paying close attention to the nooks between her toes. Snorting sullenly, Haku sank back onto his knees beside her and worked his ashy hair into a column of stiff white bubbles. The soap gave it tensile strength. Curiously he shaped it into a high crowning crest only to have her giggle explosively. Frowning with another gusty sigh, Haku struggled to wipe the soap from his eyes so he could cock an eyebrow at her inquiring. She was pink with restrained mirth, trying not to look at him. Her restraint broke as her pale eyes darted at him if only for a moment. Then she spat the laugh she was holding, laughing so hard she snorted and slapped her hands over her mouth.

"What?" He demanded finding himself at a loss. "What is so amusing?"

She shook her head from side to side spattering him with a flying spray. Exasperated and feeling as though he was missing something only humans understood, Haku dumped bucket after bucket over his head to shed soap. Then Haku found his lips quirking. Feigning a pout, he climbed into the big tub sinking with a melting sigh into the hot, hot water. Stretching out his long legs until the soles of his feet braced against the adjacent boards, he slouched until his nose touched the steaming surface then scooped a quivering orb from the steaming surface. Propelling the floating globule over the edge of the tub with a flick of his fingers, Haku positioned it perfectly then let it drop.

Haku blew bubbled in the water tonprevent himself from laughing as she loosed a startled squawk through a slapping splash. Towed himself sideways in the pull of the obedient water, Haku eddied around to brace his back on the opposite side of the tub so he could see as Sen straightened struggling to wipe back her water bedraggled hair. Chuckling ruefully, he held out his arms apologetically. Her ire broke and she joined him in the tub without hesitation.

Tucking the sodden crown of her head under his chin they soaked in silence. Absently Sen began to fiddle with the jewel hanging on a chain around his neck. It was an unhappy reminder to the abhorrent thing's presence. The sapphire crescent was an even unhappier reminder of what he owed the Harbor God. He did not want to think about Hidé. Haku did not want Sen to think of Hidé either. Gently Haku transferred Sen's fingers to the scale around her neck. She wore it always, and it flashed beneath the surface of the tub like mother of pearl.

All too soon they were drowsing in the water.

Their cuts and burns had healed thanks to the magic welling beneath them.

But the exhaustion in their bones required a different remedy.

Strangely they repeated themselves. With clean yukata plastered against their wet skins, Haku carried the burned and broken bits of Sen's armor tightly trussed in another robe up to the second story of the main house. Again he and Sen made their bed on the office floor amidst the smell of human inks and chemical paper. To the right and left of the office the rooms were choked full of phantom. Mrs. Nikkou's room was a mausoleum and Haku preferred not to reside under the eyes staring out of the mural in the room that had once belonged to Hidé. Haku had not the strength to think on the gift Sengen's son had made him. He did not remember falling asleep. He did not dream either. There was nothing between now and when he laid his head on the futon.

He wanted to sleep and sleep for days.

Unfortunately he was not granted his wish.

In the gray pale dawn Haku's eyelids fluttered. He became aware of the heavy weight of Sen's arm where it hung over his hip. Heat radiated from her body into his where she pressed against his back and a thin sweat broke out across his shoulders as he sweltered beneath the covers and his yukata. But even the touch of her skin against his could chase away the cold emanating from the chain around his neck. The jewel the harbor God forced him to wear round his neck was burning against his chest. At first he did not feel it. But as the throbbing biting stabs grew more and more persistent, his eyes opened on the gray dawn filtering through the yellowed lace curtains. Irritably grasping the jewel in his clenched fist, Haku resisted the urge to pull on it sullenly.

But he forgot the sapphire's sullen pestering as agony lanced through his arm. Arching back against the futon Haku screamed as he thrashed, rolling away gripping his wrist. It felt like something had stabbed straight through the tip of his right index finger! Ripping out from under the quilt his back slapped against cold and unforgiving wood as he stared askance at his hand in the gloom. Shaking with shock, he watched the blot of black on his fingertip quiver and quake like a living thing before it oozed and spread. Slowly Yubaba's curse claimed the second digit of his finger before it sank through his skin into stillness. Stupidly he stared as his heart throbbed in his ears and sluggish ice pumped dread through his veins, because amidst the fire and fear of death he had forgotten the mark.

Haku cringed and flinched as Sen fell over him pulling on his arm.

He closed his hand into a fist resisting obdurately.

Haku was not sure why he tried to hide it from her as she had seen already. In the end he could not resist her persistence and she claimed his hand, peeling back his fingers so she could examine his palm. The pain had passed but the skin prickled disturbingly. He shivered and squirmed unhappily as she gently brushed her fingers up the length of his index finger. But better than any fire Sen pressed against his side radiating heat and comfort. Clenching his fist again Haku forced himself to look up at her with dread circling his heart. But he found her more than calm. Sen's hair gleamed like ice against the snow white of her cheeks in the filtered early morning light. Silently she held up her hands reassuringly as if afraid he might bolt. He flinched as slowly she reached to gently brush the burning tips of her fingers through the lengthening fringe of his hair. As she continued to stroke his brow Haku released the shuddering breath he had been holding sending another wind circling the room.

Still tight as a coiled spring, he followed her back to bed, folded forward to press his cheek between the soft skin between her breasts, hiding his face there listening to the steady beat of her heart as he began shivering violently. Sen pulled the quilt over his back settling beside him. Making a pillow out of her shoulder as he had on Aburaya's veranda, Haku pursued her warmth as he found he had none left. Sen held him tightly as tremors wracked his brittle body leaving him to clench his teeth lest they chatter loudly. As her body burned beside him he was finally warm again.

Seeing clearly even in the dark, she murmured truth.

"It's a curse isn't it?"

He nodded shakily. In a way it was a relief to admit to another what had happened. It pushed back some of the isolating fear the mark inspired in him, permitting him to explain.

"It is Yubaba's parting gift to this world. She afflicted me with it when I opened her vault."

His bitter voice was a bare whisper as finally he forced himself to speak. Already she was blinking rapidly as she came to grips with his predicament. He could feel her fluttering lashes against the crown of his head as she squirmed unhappily.

"Why!? After everything you've been through, why did you go after that _stupid_ gold?"

The heavy reproach in her incredulity kindled a bright flame of anger in his chest. Hurriedly he blew it out with a gusty sigh before it inspired him to speak ungraciously. He further smothered the lingering heat with jaded exhaustion. In many ways Chihiro lingered still in Sen. Even as an adult Chihiro remained a child borne of affluent parents and accustomed to a life of indulgence. It did not occur to her that food and shelter required payment as she had never been without either.

"Sen..."

Haku began carefully as he closed his eyes.

"You know I am not a greedy being, just as you know that nothing in the two worlds is free. I needed money to pay for the rice I put in our bowls just as I needed money to open the gates of the Laughing Moon Tea House."

He had a fortune spirited away in the folds of his cloak.

Haku feared even that would not be enough to open the gates of Heian Kyo.

But there were many precious things hidden away in the vault.

Sen distracted him as she cringed as he finished, whispering as if ashamed.

"I'm sorry! You're right! It just scares me that she had a hold on you again!"

Quickly he explained further as he heard the sharp edge of panic in her hushed voice.

"Yubaba is dead. The curse is more a bargain, dear one. In exchange for her gold all is required of me is one final errand. I am to find Zeniba."

He did not, however, explain the consequences of not completing his task. He did not want to burden Sen with such knowledge yet. No doubt she would react unhappily. Haku blinked and Sen blurted the next with enthusiasm.

"Zeniba is in Higashiyama!"

So the fujo of Oni Rocks had foretold.

Sen pursued this with fervent optimism.

"It's only a two and a half hour trip to Kyoto on the bullet train from Shizuoka."

Haku ground his teeth grimly as he found he must offer ill tidings.

"Easily we may go to Kyoto, dear one. But the way to Heian-kyo is closed. The Kami of the western capital shut their doors on the worlds a long ago. They will open for no one God or human."

Sen was not troubled by that.

"Then we will find another way."

Stubbornly she pronounced her intentions as if sure they were achievable. Haku found himself smiling wearily wishing he was as certain. Unfortunately it was not so simple. Yubaba had tried to re-establish the train routes to no avail. But he did not want to think about that yet.

"Enough, dear one. I am so very tired. Please, let us rest."

For a moment she seemed inclined to argue, but then she let whatever held her pass. Shifting backwards beneath the quilt Haku gathered her against his chest planting a sweet kiss on her crumpled brow. With his nose buried in her hair he breathed in the sweet powdery smell of human soap as she snuggled her cheek against his bicep. He could not bring himself to resist as she drifted her hand down his other arm to his clenched fist. Soft and insistent she tugged on it until reluctantly he let her bring it between them. Plucking at his fingers she uncurled them one by one. He shivered with something that had nothing to do with cold as she kissed the blackened pad with the whisper soft part of her lips. His hand was shaking by the time she slipped it through the part of her robe to press it against her skin.

Sen's heart thumped against his palm fiercely. Whether from fear or anger he did not know. Trying to sooth her he slide his fingers up into the small of her neck and ran his other hand down to the curve of her waist. She did not resist as he pulled her closer. Hot and quick her breath broke on his neck as her arms threaded up his shoulders clutching and balling the fabric. Rubbing his face back and forth in the silvery thicket of her messy hair he held his breath and clenched his eyes shut on the world. He did not want to speak anymore. He did not want to ever rise from this bed. He did not ever want to leave his home again because Haku was tired; so very, very tired. But they were not finished yet; that he knew with prescient certainty.

As he teetered on the precarious razor's edge of sleep Haku wondered morosely.

Would he and Sen ever be finished?

Again his eyes jolted open as the sliding door in the kitchen below jerked open.

Human Feet slapped the tiles as a familiar voice cursed from below.

"Jesus _fuckin'_ Christ, Meg! Why y'gotta be such a _bitch_ so early!?"

Megumi's rejoinder was as sharp as it was instantaneous.

Things clattered and clashed loudly below as the kitchen suffered their wrath.

"Maybe if you weren't such an _asshole_ all the time I'd be nicer! _"_

Haku cringed and the male muttered the next beneath his breath almost guiltily.

"I'm an ass 'cause all you ever do is _bitch_ at me!"

She cut him off hotly, throwing the word back in his face.

"Then don't leave your stuff all over the house! I'm not your maid!"

Jae snarled in aggravation as he slammed pots onto the stove.

"Then stop _fuckin'_ picking it up! The reason I leave my _shit_ out is so I can find it!"

At once Haku was smiling absently at the sound of their foul-mouthed bickering. It was so very good to hear their voices, however heated. Luckily the kitchen was in almost an entirely separate building from the guest wing. That and the storm completely muffled their shouting. Onsen, however, was not so reassured nor was she amused. As she gave a sullen pop Kenka hurriedly intervened.

"Knock it off, guys! She's getting pissed!"

Haku's heart swelled at the sound of Kenka's voice.

Ever the peacemaker, the lanky male appealed to Jae and Megumi.

"This house is always pissed, man!"

Haku and Sen jerked in unison as an indignant shuddering snap cracked in the kitchen. Another shuddering quake rattled through the walls to the very roof as Onsen voiced offence. Jae and Megumi silenced with shrill gasps. All at once Kenka began hurriedly apologizing to the ceiling.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't dump them out into the snow again!"

Again? Haku found himself frowning.

Beneath them the boards continued to pop and shudder with the house's dour ire. Sen surfaced from the covers perching on her elbows beside him. Haku smoothed her wild hair as she blinked rapidly, listening to the contrite sounds of cooking emanated from below. The clattering pans became whisper quiet as the hurried insistent knock of chopping blades echoed through the boards. Soon delicious smells both sweet and savory began wafting up the back stair from the kitchen. As he lay there listening and trying to imagine the gastronomic delights his friends were conjuring below, Haku's cavernous belly released a wailing quavering moan that set Sen snickering again. Pulling an irritated moue, he unceremoniously slipped a twisting finger in the crook of one of her arms producing a satisfying squeal as she shied and slapped at his hand. Smirking now, Haku chuckled softly as her stomach uttered a plaintiff wail to match his own.

"I'm so hungry!"

Sen hushed as she wilted beside him.

"Do you think they'd let us have some of what they're cooking?"

Haku blinked rapidly as her hesitation gave him pause. The humans below were some of the most generous beings he knew. Besides, this was her house. The humans were in her employment. After all that had happened Sen seemed to have forgotten that.

"Of course, dear one!"

Already she was reaching for her robe.

* * *

 **SEN**

Cold emanated through Onsen's roof and walls from all angles. Curtains of obscuring white billowed past the back windows, hiding the blue roof tiles in a thick pillow-top of fluffy white as Sen peered out nosily. She could barely make out the looming lines of the God Wing. It had to be some kind of record. Izu didn't get this kind of snow. Leaving the window she skulked forward on tip-toe. In spite of her bare feet and thin indigo robes she didn't feel the bitter bite of deep winter even as Kohaku's breath blew from his lips in a shuddering plume. He huddled at her back, pressing close, because she was steaming again, producing thin curls of white vapor and tremendous amounts of heat.

Deep in her heart a fire crackled cheerily.

Unfortunately it required fuel and again her stomach gurgled petulantly.

Exhausted as she was, sleep could wait especially as a coffee grinder whirred distantly.

For some reason Sen felt the need to sneak down the back stairs. Light flooded up the steps reflecting off the polished paneled walls as long shadows ghosted back and forth across the adjacent walls. Except for the sounds of pots, pans, and chopping knives the kitchen remained eerily silent since Onsen scolded the humans. Perching on the step above the middle landing, Sen peered around the corner watching just as silently as Jae, Megumi, and Kenka bustled around hard at work. Sen blinked as she found they were all wearing the same kind of clothes: white double-breasted jacket with rolled sleeves, checkered pants, and thick heeled clogs that knocked on the tiles with hollow thuds to match the echoing chop of their restless blades. It was a uniform of sorts that differed only in headgear. Jae had wrapped his brow with a flame-colored bandana out of which the unruly spikes of his cropped hair protruded like spines. And of all things the guy had decided to grow a moustache and goatee! Sen almost laughed outright because it made him look like some kind of yakuza. Megumi was just as rigid and unyielding as ever. Her long thick hair was knotted and lacquered on top of her head in a fat bun so tight it pulled at the scalp on her brow. And the bleached tips of Kenka short hair had grown out significantly behind the folded band of one of Onsen's indigo handkerchiefs.

Sen noticed the tall human was wearing one of Onsen's aprons.

She also noticed that it was 5:04 AM.

Looking back at the cooks she found them white faced and pinched with anxiety. They flinched in perfect unison as the white flame crackling there popped sullenly, keeping watch over them like some kind of study hall chaperone. But they kept working in spite of the fear brightening the whites of their eyes. Setting her oven warming, Megumi produced a huge sheet of pastry dough on an aluminum tray from the cavernous refrigerator. Carrying it over to her workspace she disappeared momentarily in a cloud of flour. Then she began rolling it out with savage enthusiasm before cutting half into fantastic cookie-cutter shapes and slicing the rest into a network of baffling angles with a rotary cutter. Just as furiously Jae clattered several mixing bowl, cracking egg after egg in expansive expert movements before hurling the shells into the adjacent sink. He separated several into two smaller bowls, slamming them down on the neutral zone between their stations. Megumi snatched them up without a word of thanks, stalking by to claim a jug of heavy cream from the fridge. As she slammed the door, silently they continued to yell at each other without speaking a word. Kenka kept worriedly glancing between them and the hearth as he chopped fragrant herbs.

"Dear one?" Kohaku whispered in confusion, "Why do we hide?"

Sen startled as he spoke. Glancing back she found him folded up on the step beside her. But after a long moment she found herself frowning considering his question. In the spirit world you could end up dead around any corner. Skulking and hiding was a necessity. It had become instinctual. She was doing it even now. Suddenly realizing her absurd behavior, Sen wilted and stammered uncertainly.

"I… I don't know."

Here Onsen took notice of them. The flame in the hearth extinguished with a hiss and the thick invisible cloud of the house's presence gathered over their heads curiously. With shrewd gray eyes Megumi followed it only to catch a glimpse of them. Sen could only guess at what the human saw because Megumi flew backwards with a gasp pointing with flour caked hands. Kenka dropped the plate he was holding as she knocked into him. As it shattered Jae jolted visibly; but rather than run he wheeled from the range with a savage expression jerking knives from the blocks. The human brandished them just as Michio had back at the house in Aoyama standing ready to fight.

Then a bell rang loud and firm in the kitchen.

Sen and Kohaku gasped in perfect unison as the compelling reverberation hauled them out of hiding and sent them stumbling down the final flight to sprawl on the tiles. Instinct took over as her hands slapped against the floor. Fire flared in her blood as Sen summoned inhuman strength. Deftly twisting sideways to slip around the resounding grip of the ringing, she surged upright beneath the crushing weight. Sen escaped it only to drown the sound in the golden chorus of her own making as suddenly the suzu was in her hand. Bells flashed like lightening as the silk ribbons whipped through the air in a thunderous crack. Megumi screeched as she sailed backwards and slammed into the far wall, making the shelf of dished jolt and rattle. But she sagged for only a moment before rebounding off the boards, striking forward into a powerfully pose both graceful and belligerent as she furled the fan over her head with aggression flashing in her pale gray eyes.

There was iron in the human's eyes, iron Sen recognized immediately. Eagerly the fire pumping through her veins crackled in response to the challenge. Before the storm of their bells could break, a pacifying wind flooded the kitchen. It blasted Jae back against the cutting board as he came at them slicing the air blindly with his knives. Sen cringed sideways, evading the sharp flashing blades as the sullen gale pouring around her shoulders making her hair and robes billow as it shoved Megumi back as well. Flour plumed off the work board in a whirling twist of white powder as the back slider rattled violently and the split curtain fluttered and snapped.

Over the whistling gale Kohaku called out truce.

"Stop! Please stop, dear friends!"

Slowly the wind abated leaving the lights to swing back and forth overhead. As shadows danced Sen froze panting and humming with adrenaline. All eyes in the flashing lights, Kenka and Megumi stared at her cagily over the range. Shaking like a coiled spring ready to break, Jae began boiling over as his pale face went red.

"What _t'fuck_ , Kou! When did you and Chihiro get back?!"

Jae swore beneath his breath, hissing through his teeth stabbing his knives at the front hall. Never mind the fact that he and Megumi had been shouting at each other a moment ago. And it was super strange to hear Kohaku called Kou again, just as it felt wrong to be called by her human name. Chihiro was gone. Only her ghost remained. But Sen wasn't about to try and explain that now, not as Jae continued to curse and gesture with knives.

"Man! There's fuckin' _people_ around here! You can't pull _scary shit_ when we have guests!"

Startling each time the cook's voice intensified Kohaku held up his hands in a quelling gesture.

"Apologies, Jae-san!" He breathed truth quietly. "The bell frightened us!"

Jae's mouth fell open as he sputtered furiously.

"We frightened you!? _Shit_ , man! She nearly gave me a _heart attack!_ "

As the human jabbed one of his knives in Sen's direction he drooped, hobbling aside to take a seat on the nook bench slamming down his knives and clutching his chest. Sen gritted her teeth anxiously as Kohaku took her by the arm and pulled her out of the way so Kenka hurriedly guided Megumi over to the nook. Contrition turned Sen's blood cold as she watched the prim ballerina bend beneath pain pressing a hand to her back. As soon as he saw Megumi Jae shoved Kenka out of the way replacing him as the woman eased to a seat on the bench. As Kenka withdrew uncertainly Jae flustered with surprisingly intense worry. Blank faced with panic he crouched at her knees seizing her hands.

"Meg! You okay, Meg!?"

Again bells hummed in her blood as Sen recognized the gleam in the cook's eyes immediately. But these had nothing to do with the suzu in her hand. Kohaku had looked at her too many times with the same expression for Sen to miss its meaning. Immediately the ballerina went pink in the face as she tried to jerk back her hands.

"I'm fine!"

Clinging stubbornly Jae refused let go as he glared up at her skeptically.

"She _fuckin'_ threw you across the room, Meg! You're not okay!"

Megumi's face was absolutely red now. She fought to free her hands muttering in embarrassment as she attempted to avoid his scrutiny.

" _Damnit, Jae!_ I said I'm fine!"

Jae blinked rapidly as finally he accepted she was telling the truth. For a brief moment he bent his head over her knees in evident relief before sprawling sideways on the floor at her feet. Megumi didn't protest as Jae braced his back against her shin. Still trying to catch his breath Jae cursed at her instead. Glaring furiously between his squinting eyes, Jae threw a hand up to hide from the caustic bright of the still swinging lights.

" _Fuck!_ Why y'gotta be such a creeper, Chihiro?! Can't you just come in the front door like a normal person and be like, _I'm home_ , an' shit?!"

She snorted. Normal? It wasn't possible for her to be normal anymore. As Jae blinked rapidly, looking on in cagey curiosity, Sen produced the tiny flat card that she'd made of the geihobako from the tight press of her narrow obi. Like some kind of magic trick she made the suzu disappeared back inside the tiny mouth of the equally tiny box. Ignoring the laws of physics it swallowed the suzu eagerly and Sen shoved the looping ribbons after it with the point of her finger. Finally it was gone and all that remained was the wooden card. Suddenly realizing the humans were gawking incredulously, heat flood her cheeks as she slipped the bit of wood back into her yukata.

"Sorry," Sen muttered diffidently, "I guess I'm still a little wound up."

Jae barked a short agreeable laugh forgetting his irritation. His straight white teeth flashed in a wide grin.

"No shit, sweetheart!"

Jae startled against Megumi's knees as Onsen popped and settled. Sen ignored the house as she continued to scold the human churning in the swinging shadows irritably. Red and silver flashed in the vacillating lights as Kenka retrieved Cinna's fan from the floor. Sen looked on curiously as Megumi snatched it out of his hand and shoved it into her apron pocket. Awkwardly Sen tried to apologize for roughing her up by offering a compliment.

"You're good with that."

The prim woman's iron eyes grazed sideways to Kohaku.

"He showed me how. But apparently I'm not good enough."

Her heavy attention circled back to Sen's obi.

"What is that thing?"

Sen blinked at Megumi's clipped demand then blurted the obvious.

"It's a suzu."

Megumi's pretty face tightened angrily and she opening her mouth to say something else, probably to point out that hadn't been much of an explanation. But she shut up and sidled sideways to make room for Kenka as he sank to a seat beside suddenly pale and shaking as he placed a hand on his chest. For a moment Sen worried he might be having an attack, but then she remembered that Suzume had fixed whatever physical ailment had caused Kenka's suffering. The humans flinched as another wind went ghosting through the kitchen making scattered flour stir. Reaching out to touch Kenka's hand with light beautiful fingers, Haku breezed forward to sink over his heels at the human's feet. Pale and solemn as always, Kohaku peered up into Kenka's face much like Jae had done for Megumi.

"Are you unwell, Kenka?"

The lanky fellow went bright pink ducking his chin to awkwardly smooth the back of his neck.

"I'm okay, dude. Really, I'm okay. It's just sinking in that this is real."

He repeated quietly as if trying to convince himself. The cook's large solemn gray eyes went perfectly round with wild gratitude as they turned back and forth between her and Kohaku over and over as if worried they might disappear. The words blew out of Kenka as he dropped his head and shivered, gripping Kohaku's fingers until his knuckles went white.

"Dude! We're so glad you're back and you're okay!"

Flashing a worried stare heavy with questions, Kohaku appealed to Jae and Megumi for help without words. Sighing gustily as if this had happened before, Jae gave Kenka an uncomfortable sideways shove as if that was the only thing he could think to do.

"Man! Don't cry in front of Meg and Chihiro! There's no crying in baseball, remember!?"

Glaring in exasperation Megumi lightly cuffed the back side of his head dislodging his bandana.

Jae scrambled to catch it, glaring up at her spitting angrily.

" _Ow!_ What t'fuck was that for!?"

Turning back to Kenka the prim woman flustered like she didn't know what to do either. Kenka straightened as he struggled to get ahold of himself, wiping his raw eyes on his sleeves.

"Sorry… Sorry… It's just you marched out of here like somethin' out of a samurai film! We were _seriously_ freaked 'cause it's been a month. We were beginning t'think you weren't coming back!"

Sen shifted uncomfortably, trying not to feel like a space alien as she explained.

"It's only been a couple of days on our end."

All three of them blinked up at her blankly and spoke in unison.

"What?"

Again she squirmed under their incredulous attention.

"Kami time's different, remember?"

Here her stomach wailed furiously, making her wilt to a seat on the bottom step.

All three chefs looked at her simultaneously frowning so intensely Sen cringed.

Kenka straightened blinking rapidly as his face cleared.

"Are you hungry?"

Megumi tossed her head in exasperation.

She rose like she had a book balanced on her head, dislodging Jae.

"Of course they're hungry! Why else would they be down here!"

Jae scrambled upright, suddenly all business as he beckoned the other humans in a surprising show of solidarity. Without hesitation Kenka and Megumi turned to him for instruction forgetting all about their earlier squabbling. Jae didn't disappoint, taking the lead as if used to running a kitchen.

"Meg, keep at the croissants. You're gonna make those badass little puffs too, right?"

She nodded, lifting her chin almost challengingly.

"Instead of classic custard I'm making matcha and red bean fillings. I'll frost them in chocolate."

Jae cracked a goofy grin and exclaimed something in French that made Megumi's lips quirk.

" _Bon! Allez travaillier, mon petit choux!_ "

Still fighting a smile, she strode on her long, long legs for the pantry as Jae turned to Kenka.

"Dude. Chop a shit ton of tarragon, chives, and parsley; then grate up all of that boss white cheddar. You an' me's gonna crank out omelets like machines!"

Kenka saluted briskly, clicking the heels of his clogs together with a grin.

" _Oui, chef!"_

As the humans scattered to their stations Kohaku reluctantly tried to follow.

"Jae? Might I help?"

The chef whirled on him stabbing a finger in his face before jabbing it at the nook.

"Sit down and shut t'fuck up, man! You too, Chihiro! We're making you breakfast!"

Kohaku sat on the bench obediently tossing his hands up as if surrendering. Turning his back Jae went back to the sink and began working on the eggs he'd started earlier. Kenka's eyes were all whites as Onsen filled the gloomy rafters over his head with her curious mothy presence. Coming to sit on the nook bench beside Kohaku Sen found herself smiling.

"I think she likes you, Kenka."

Starting as the house gave a settling pop Kenka glanced overhead anxiously.

"Yeah? That explains why she follows me everywhere when I'm here."

Megumi snorted, pausing to dust her work surface with furling plumes of flour before delicately rolling the sectioned dough into tight spiraling tubes with the darting points of her powdered fingers. These she expertly bent into crescent shapes before transferring to a baking sheet. As she worked she continued to pronounce grim judgments.

"At least she likes one of us."

Kenka immediately came to the house's defense as his knocking blade silenced.

"She only threw you out that once and that's because you two wouldn't stop arguing."

Jae laughed sarcastically as he clopped over on his heavy clogs, shoving Kenka aside so he could scoop some of the herbs into the mixing bowl full of eggs. Grinning his white teeth ruefully Jae contradicted Kenka as he returned to the range.

"Quit fooling yourself, man! The house hates my guts worse than Meg!"

Sen wasn't so sure of that. From the corners of her eyes she watched as the prim woman stood bolt upright. Megumi's face wiped with a strange helpless expression as she opened her mouth to protest. But it disappeared into fury as she gritted her jaw. Whirling away she stomped off into the pantry kicking up a wind. Kohaku cringed, tucking up his legs to perch on the top of the bench afraid Megumi might trample him. He and Sen glanced at each other in silent discomfort, leaning away flinching as smashing and crashing sounds emanated from the interior of the curtain obscured room. Kenka sighed as he shoved away from the counter and clacked to the fridge. Yanking the door open he rummaged around before hauling out a massive wheel of white cheese tightly wrapped in plastic. Slamming the door he stalked back to his station muttering under his breath passive aggressively.

"Maybe if you didn't swear all the time!"

Frothing the eggs savagely with a wire whisk and making the muscles in his corded forearms jump and bunch, Jae paused and spared a hand to twist a dial on the front of the stove. It clicked rapidly before producing licking blue tongues in a woofing rush. Then Jae banged a flat shallow pan with rounded edges down onto the flame glaring after Kenka. Quickly the sous-chef returned to his board never looking up. Meekly he sectioned the cheese with a flashing blade and put it to a box grater produced from some secret place under the counter. All the same, Jae growled at his back.

"She's not my _halmoni_ (1), man! I'm a big boy an' I use big boy words!"

Slamming the egg bowl down onto the counter Jae snatched up a huge chef's knife, stabbing a chunk of butter from a dish on the counter with the point. This Jae flicked into his pan. It hissed furiously, chasing round and round as he lifted the pan by the handle deftly rotating it above the flame until it melted. Instantly the mouth-watering smell of caramelizing sugars hit the room as steam plumed from the pan. Sen was glad she was sitting otherwise her knees would've gone weak. In spite of the tension in the air, in a way this was kind of nice. Knives and fire in a kitchen were a welcome change to knives and fire on the battle field. Sitting there listening to the humans bicker almost made her feel like normal human again. Almost.

Jae continued to grouse at no one in particular.

"She doesn't have to like me! I'm here to cook not to make friends!"

He began grinning again as he stroked his moustache.

"Besides, I might not have pretty manners, but at least I'm pretty to look at!"

As he laughed wickedly the house gave another sullen settling pop. Then Megumi emerged from the pantry tall and straight back balancing a squishy bag of fine ground red bean paste and a can of powdered green tea. She jerked in surprise at Onsen's snap only to recover dexterously as if getting used to the house's ways. Megumi floated above her clacking clogs ignoring all of them wearing an icy expression of pure professionalism. Jockeying for more board space, elbowing up beside Kenka, quickly she ducked her croissants into the oven before going to work on another mixture with an electric hand beater. The hissing rasp of the grater versus the whirring whisks couldn't drown out as the massive percolator brewing beside the sink. It began to fizzle and gurgle, producing the most delicious savory roasted smell Sen had almost forgotten.

Both Sen and Kohaku turned in unison to stare longingly at the aluminum cylinder.

Its red winking electric eye glared back at them.

Coffee! _Coffee!_

Sen's attention snatched back to the range as Jae left the pan on the flame. Whisking the eggs again before yanking a ladle from a jar of cooking implements he carefully doled a measurement into the middle skillet. Tossing the ladle into the bowl, with his opposite hands he seized a cooking spoon and the pan handle simultaneously. Metal skittered against metal as Jae jerked the handle back and forth horizontal to the stove, scrambling the mixture round and round and round with the spoon like he had the butter. Lifting the pan and jabbing it over the back of the stove so quickly Sen almost missed it, Kenka stood on his toes to lean over and drop a handful of the cheese into its center. Fascinated, Sen found herself craning her neck to watch as Jae angled the pan so the egg and cheese mixture pooled in the corner. He carefully swept and folded the thinning edge over and over onto the top with the spoon in his other hand before letting the roll of egg sit.

Then he reached expectantly even as his eyes never left his work.

"Plate!"

Kenka and Megumi ducked with a gasps as a ceramic disk whisked off the back shelf.

It flew like a discus through thin air right into Jae's fingers.

The chef caught it in startled surprise.

"See?" Kenka interjected in vindication, "She does like you."

Jae snorted as he frowned at the plate only to crack a sheepish grin.

"Next you're gonna tell me Meg likes me too."

Both of the men jumped as Megumi slammed her oven shut with such force the work counter jolted. Glaring at Jae scathingly, the baker savagely knocked a thick batter into a piping back with a spatula as if wanting to slap him in the face with it. Shrinking from her vicious grimace Jae turned to tap, tap, tap his skillet on the edge of the counter in a strange motion Sen had never seen. The omelet performed a backwards belly-flop out of the pan onto the plate producing a perfectly ovular shape straight out of a Martha Stewart magazine. Kenka hit it with another dusting of herbs and took the plate as Jae held it over the back of the range. Quickly the chef went to work producing another omelet as Kenka whirled from his station, placing the plate on a tray before going in search of cups.

Drawers jerked open in his absence as silverware and napkins shot through the air to fold and arrange beside the plate. Sen's mouth was watering as the tray lifted from the counter carried high through the air by invisible hands before it drifted down onto the nook table. Megumi and Jae were too caught up in their work to notice the food go floating by. Kenka carried steaming mugs of black savory coffee back to his work station only to stare in confusion at the empty counter. Wheeling around he blinked over at them before finding the tray and bringing the beverages. Sen almost pounced on the cup as her insides hummed with wanting. Careful not to spill, it didn't matter that the brew was piping hot. She swallowed a gulp feeling the heat burn down into her gullet before gasping in ecstasy. Kenka laughed softly as Kohaku made similar scandalous sounds. The sous-chef loitered companionably.

"No coffee where you went?"

"No," Kohaku breathed.

As he bowed his head over the hot drink like it was a holy thing Kenka laughed again. Sen could feel the hum in her eyes. Hurriedly she took another sip and then another and another. She'd always been a caffeine-junky. Several days in the Spirit World only served to remind her of that. Gods drank only tea. But Sen forgot her coffee as Kohaku gently put a fork in her hand. That was all the encouragement she needed. Together they demolished the beautiful creamy omelet in two bites, stuffing their faces and barely tasting it. Jae scolded Kohaku in Korean as he shoved his way between them to dump another omelet onto the plate.

" _Jal meoggo!_ " (2)

Whatever it meant Kohaku didn't argue. Neither did Sen. Jae continued to produce omelet after omelet. They ate and ate and ate until they ran out of eggs, which was probably a good thing otherwise Jae would've kept feeding them. With a satisfied sigh Sen sagged forward onto the table top pillowing her head on her arms reveling in the feeling of being full of protein. Food had been scarce in the Spirit World. When there had been things to eat she'd either been too sick with worry or work to eat properly. But better than being full was being home. Feeling the familiar glossy tiles beneath her toes; the rough brush of the wood planks beneath her fingers; smelling the distant humid fragrance of wet cedar; seeing the faces of their friends and hearing them speak their names; it all brought a peace to her heart that was indescribable.

Being happy was something she'd taken for granted before now.

Like coffee and French pastries, it had become rare rather than common-place.

Pin-pricks of pain stung her eyes and pinched her throat as she realized that.

Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, she glanced from the corners of her eyes at Kohaku. Her heart sang as it swelled in her chest as she found him similarly sated. A happy glow kindled in her heart as she watched him demurely sip his coffee. Perfect and polite even now, he sat straight backed on the bench beside her even though his windy hair was an utter mess. The long tapered fingers of his soft beautiful hands cupped his mug in such a refined pose it almost seemed practiced. But that was just his way. There was so much beauty inside him it spilled out of everything he did making every move pretty. His glimmering green eyes went half-lidded with enjoyment. His thick inky lashes hovered low over his marble cheeks. He tipped the fine point of his nose over the rim of the cup so he could breathe deeply the steam rolling off the strong black brew. A small secret smile tugged the generous pink bow of his lips. It widened with every sip as he hummed absently, making Sen smirk.

Glancing up she found Kenka was smiling too.

Earlier every smile he pulled had been forced.

But the gentle expression he turned on Kohaku now reached all the way up to his eyes.

And slowly Sen's smile fell as she saw something she wasn't supposed to see.

She knew the look in Kenka's. She knew it far too well.

Kenka went bright pink then perfectly pale as he caught her watching him.

Ducking his head he looked away hastily, smoothing the back of his neck.

"Shit!" Jae muttered at their backs, "Where t'fuck are we gonna get more eggs?!"

Sen jerked as Onsen snapped and popped irritably startling Haku.

As he spilled his coffee his brow snarled into creased folds of dismay.

Hurriedly he mopped at his hands with a napkin pressing his lips together into a thin line.

"Language!"

Megumi snapped to match the house as she brought over the last trays of croissants, loading the ovens at Jae's work station. He ignored her as she shoved him aside to put her piping inside the fridge to chill. Jae was still searching the shelves as if more eggs might magically appear. Dusting the flour off her hands, Megumi set a timer and stretched her lithe arms over her head turning out her feet in a pose straight out of ballet. Reaching a lull in her work, the baker poured two cups of coffee. She came to join them in the nook offering one to Kenka.

"Thanks," he murmured quietly.

He scooted to a seat in the corner as far from Kohaku as possible. The back slider rattled and jumped in its track as wind whistled around its frame sending a frigid draft billowing through the kitchen. Sen looked up as a particularly thick sheet of snow billowed by the frosted glass of the back window. Blinking and glancing over at them, Jae shivered violently forgot his futile refrigerator search. Shutting the door, he got himself a cup of coffee. As he plopped down on the opposite bench across from Megumi he turned on them demandingly.

"You found your sister and that other chick? Kiri, right?"

Kohaku startled then nodded gravely. He'd been really quiet all morning and Sen knew why. Sen's insides sank as she watched him tighten his right fist at the mention of what had happened in the Spirit World. He hid his hand under the table just as he hid his face under the wild curtain of his tangled hair. Oblivious to the soreness of the subject, Jae blew a gusty breath shaking his head in relief.

"I'm glad t'hear it, man. Amano's been a mess. Hopefully she'll straighten him out."

Sen blinked, finding herself frowning.

A hollow anxious peal sounded distantly from the bell that dwelled in her heart.

"What d'you mean?"

Megumi's eyes darkened as again she pronounced judgments mercilessly.

"He's drunk all the time now. It got so bad Keiichi took Kai away."

Sen blinked and blinked and blinked some more.

Things at Amano's house looked back but she hadn't realized they'd gotten that bad.

She repeated herself in shock.

"They took Kai?"

Kenka nodded sadly as sympathy made his gaze go distant.

"He's staying at the shrine but I don't think he likes it. He hangs out here a lot."

Jae cut in again, explaining what the bottles on the floor made obvious.

"Amano was okay for a while but then he just gave up and lost his shit! I like t'drink, don't get me wrong, but you'd think he was a _fuckin' fish_ an' not a fisherman! He crawled in a _goddamn_ bottle an' forgot about everything even his son! Apparently s'not the first time either."

Onsen angrily popped several boards in the wall beside them.

The human jerked in surprise before griping back at the house.

"What!? The shit's true!"

The table and benches rattled violently in the phantom tremor of the house's ire. The humans lurched upright as coffee sloshed out of their cups. Sen and Kohaku had snatched theirs off the surface just in the nick of time. Pale with terror Megumi and Kenka gripped the edge of the table as if braced for another quake. Still cursing beneath his breath Jae jumped up from his seat and paced in a tight circle before throwing his hands at the ceiling.

"For _fuck's_ sake, house! We were finally making progress!"

All the hair on Sen's neck stood up as the shadows went dark and heavy.

Jae wasn't impressed.

"Why y'gotta always be on my case, huh!? I'm trying my best here!"

He appealed to the thin air frustrated and at a loss.

"Do you have any fuckin' idea how hard this _shit_ is for us!?"

As if sensing impending doom Kenka cringed waving wildly.

"Dude! Dude, stop swearing!"

Jae whirled on him with a vicious expression.

Spit flew from his lips as he lashed out at his friend ungenerously.

"I can swear if I _goddamn_ _fuckin'_ want to! This is our _fuckin'_ kitchen too!"

Sen gasped, spilling her coffee down her front as the rear slider ripped open letting in wide curtains of furling frozen snow. Kohaku was suddenly standing on the bench. His mug shattered on the blue-green tiles beneath their feet as they surged and welled like fantastic flashing water.

"Onsen, stop!"

As the dragon barked the quelling command the house ignored him. Jae squealed as he caught on the crest of a ceramic wave that dragged him across the kitchen floor. It dumped him out the door onto the slick icy boards of the back porch. Like some kind of fun house gag, a section of the veranda ripped up and hurled sideways like a catapult. The house ejected Jae out into the snowy yard.

She did so the same way she'd ejected Michio; without hesitation.

And the deck settled back into place with a sullen pop as if reloading.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 _Halmoni_ (할머니) means grandma in Korean. Remember that Jae is half Korean.

 _Jal meoggo_ (잘 먹고) is one of my favorite Korean expressions. Politely it translates to, "Eat well." But my good Korean friend says it really means something more like, "Gorge yourself!" Halmoni yell it at you with lots of love when you come to eat dinner. And you better bring an appetite.


	44. Chapter 44

**LIN**

Light was beginning to filter through the double row of paper sliders at her toes.

Loudly whistling wind rattled the screens in their tracks.

The familiar smell of snow invaded her cozy room.

Its cold breath stole inside like a creeping thief with each loudly thrilling gust.

Lin shivered with something that had nothing to do with cold. In a way she was terrified none of this was real. The nest they'd made out of her quilt and futon never felt so plush. Filling the narrow berth of her room with their long naked limbs, they wore their human bodies for the joy of hands and fingers. He couldn't stop touching her, making a pillow out of the scarred stump that had one been her arm. Any other God might've found it a repulsive thing. They wouldn't even want to be near her for fear that her bad luck might rub off on them. But he kissed the ugly flesh with such gentle care that it melted the stone she had forced herself to become. She shuddered again as he mouthed her collar bone before turning to nuzzled the knotted ropes of flesh. Throwing her head back against the futon with a stifled gasp Lin shied and shivered beneath the tender brush of his charcoal hands, overwhelmed by the thrilling quivering sensations they inspired.

With him touching her like this it was impossible to think.

And Lin was glad she couldn't think.

He seemed to want nothing more than to have her smooth his hair, returning her palm to the side of his face whenever if drifted away. Over and over she parted her only hand through the ragged edges of his hair. Inky black and glossy, it fell past the hard curves of his milk white shoulders in an uneven mess as if he had hacked it off with a knife. He leaned into her touch as a soft sight slipped across his lips beneath the spreading hems of his camphor scented robes. She stared at his mouth hungrily. It could be soft and generous when it wasn't pulled into a dour sour line. Leaning over him she ghosted her lips across his. At once his eyes opened. Burning with affection so intense she could feel its heat radiated across her bare skin. His lashed tickled her cheeks as his gold eyes gleamed in the gloom, looking up to drink her in as if he'd never be sated.

Then he startled in surprise, holding so perfectly still Lin snorted.

Normally that would've earned her an irritated glare but he didn't so much as frown.

Cradled in the bower of their pressed bellies their white wiggling kits stirred as they slept. Gentle with the same care he'd showed her, his hands smoothed their powder soft skin. A tender fire tempered his wide smoldering gaze as he beheld his children. Suzume's face cleared as it lit up with such joy and awed wonder. And the flinty shards of her heart burned as only stone could burn. Lin closed her eyes as she found it difficult to breathe. He stole what little breath she had left leaving her gasping against his mouth and pushing on his chest as he kissed her breathless. Dizzy with elation, Lin was left panting and gasping as he broke with a humming wicked chuckle.

But even safe and warm beneath him she couldn't sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was yellow-green fire, billowing red cinders, and a crushing host of crawling black bodies. Before she knew it she had gone rigid beside him remembering that the last time she'd been under this roof was when the spider had taken her and nearly killed him. Unconsciously her hand dropped to touch her kits, darting back and forth between Makoto and Kokoro terrified one of them might disappear at any moment. She'd spent so much time as a prisoner so tightly coiled that she'd forgotten how to unwind herself. Feather light his blackened hands wound their way through the spreading curtain of her long tangled hair to trace the old burns tightening her temple. Each time her brow furrowed his finger danced across her face smoothing and soothing.

"Rest, beloved."

Suzume's soft and lyrical golden tenor lulled her sideways toward sleep.

"Rest in my arms and in my heart."

Then tears were in her clenched eyes as Lin burrowed closer, burying herself in the thicket of his winding arms as he tipped her back onto the soft press of the cushions. Never once since the night he had chased her into the great room and finally caught her did Lin doubt that she was his. But for the first time she could remember, Lin knew that she was first in his heart. It was an amazing and a terrifying thing to finally know he was hers. For the longest time it was all she wanted. And now that it was true she could sleep easy.

But as soon as her eyelids sagged Natsumi's door snicked open and closed with brisk efficiency.

The old yuna moved down the stairs without a sound.

All the same Lin heard her.

She cringed as Natsumi began cheerily calling the Gods to work.

"Time to get up! Up! Up! Up!"

After a moment more doors snicked open and feet began beating the boards.

With each step a compelling hum thrummed in Lin bones.

Even still after all this time the terms of her contract began pulling.

Cold with dismay she resisted, pressing herself closer against Suzume's smooth chest.

Aniyaku groused petulantly from right outside her door as he waddled by.

Lin could hear the slap of his fat flat webbed feet.

"Blast it all! Must you be so chipper so early?"

Growling savagely Suzume ripped the robe off their heads.

His sharp, sharp teeth flashed in the gloom as he spat the words.

"Hayashimi! If they wake I am quite sure I will eat that insufferable frog."

Here he cringed as the kits squalled unhappily at the cold air kissing their naked skin. Hurriedly turning so he could gather them into the crooks of his arms, Suzume pressed them to his chest sitting up folding his long legs shushing and patting them back to sleep. Still burrowed in the blankets beside him Lin watched in wonder. Usually males were nervous of young. But her husband was good with the kits like this wasn't the first time he'd held a baby. He, however, was no good at all with the other Gods. Lin snorted as he held his breath going black-faced and cross-eyed in silent rage as more squabbling drifted through the walls.

"Confound it, yuna! Why must I always staff the front station!?"

Without hesitation Natsumi bit back primly.

"Because you can answer the telephone and I cannot! Would you rather scrub floors?"

The bullfrog sputtered indignantly.

"Me!? Scrub floors!? Ha!"

Suzume closed his eyes, rocking the kits struggling visibly with his temper. Makoto was struggling fretfully kicking at Kokoro's side. Scooting closer Lin pulled the robes around his shoulders tucking the front folds over the kits to cocoon them in the thick fabric. A wicked smirk tugged at Lin's mouth. Gods could not lie. She almost considered letting him eat Aniyaku. It would give her the chance to clean up after him and fulfill by proxy the stupid terms of her insistent contract. She'd almost forgotten it the way Shurui ordered her around. Being a prisoner was not far off from being a servant. Suddenly she found herself in need or work and this errand was as good as any. At least it would buy her a little peace.

"I'll get them to quiet down."

Lin hastily threw herself into a robe, struggling with her obi one-handed as Suzume patted Kokoro softly soothing away the bother of her brothers kicking. He shifted Makoto into his lap making the kit squirm and squawk before he settled. As Lin watched him juggled their children deftly, the dull disembodied ache of the fingers of her missing arm twitched anxiously. It was so very strange to not feel their warm little bodies wiggling against the wall of her belly. She felt strangely light without their weight hanging from her shoulders as she turned toward the door. Then Suzume caught her hem with his black fingers. Lin whirled on him, resisting irritably only to pause as she saw the reluctance in his gleaming gold eyes. She snorted, pulling again to intentionally piss him off. But the smirk tugging on her lips fell as he continued to hold her back with a stubborn moue.

"You are my wife, not my servant."

Lin froze as the gentleness in his voice.

Only fire could warm a stone.

But the name he gave her set fire to her very heart.

At the same time his possessive overtones made her want to kick him.

"I'll be right back," she muttered, "Now let go."

He didn't. A wild expression of wanting made his hard mouth go gentle as his previous words. Suzume dropped her hem and reached for her instead as his face cleared with atypical patience.

"Stay," he instructed softly, "The children have quieted and I can endure their squabbling."

Lin stared at his hand wanting nothing more than to return to his touch. Unfortunately the terms of the spell that held her flared in the wake of her weakness, making her legs tremble. Gritting her teeth and suddenly missing the unyielding blade of Umi's knife, Lin found herself forced to tell the truth. It hissed between her lips against her will leaving her shaking as she looked away from his hand to stare blankly at the thin line of tatami in front of the sliding door.

"I _have_ to work, Suzume… We all do…"

Lin flinched as he breathed her true name desolately.

"Is there nothing I can do, Hayashimi?"

Her true name: somehow he'd been able to give that much back to her. Unfortunately it was not enough to set her free. The fox knew it. And Lin found herself bowing beneath the misery in his distraught whisper. Thankfully it made her angry and that made her immune to infectious despair, because Suzume had nothing to be sorry for. Tossing her head, Lin fortified herself with the fact that she was exceptionally lucky. They both were. Somehow they were alive and home. So what did it matter if she had to go scrub floors? Better her than Aniyaku!

Turning, she found the fox had bleached of all color. Huddled beneath the pale folds of his solemn white robe, his head was bowed as if in defeat, hiding his handsome face beneath the hacked off curtain of his pure white hair. Without making so much as a sound Lin returned to his side and sank to her heels on the thick cushions. As if sensing she was near Makoto sighed and reached for her burbling loudly, blowing bubbled from his sweet pink lips and flailing his chubby limbs as his gold eyes gleamed like foxfires. Kokoro was still fast asleep in her father's arms. The fox held the kit close, cradling her in a desperately gentle embrace, his blackened hands began to shake.

"I would pray to O-Inari-sama, but I have forsaken her! Why would she hear me after I abandoned my vow? Thoughtlessly I tossed it aside when you were taken by the spiders as I begrudged her apathy toward our plight. And yet now? Now I know not what I am without my pledge to her service!"

Suzume tortured voice shredded until it was a bare whisper.

"What good am I, beloved, if I cannot even free you from this!? What good are Gods, in the senseless madness that afflicts our worlds, if we can do nothing?!

Lin snorted. He'd spent too much time among humans. He was beginning to pick up their despairing habits. Bending her face she kissed him swiftly before he could say more stupid things. Startled, Suzume knocked his head back against the wall as Lin pursued him vehemently. She grinned as he yipped in surprise. Without a shred of doubt she murmured against his mouth smolderingly.

"You say you don't know what you are anymore? I will tell you. You are the father of my children. You are the protector of all who live under this roof. You are the God of this house. No oath can change that, Suzume. But if you're so upset about your lost vow I offer you another. I am yours, husband, now and forever."

He was pink-cheeked and breathless by the time she drew back. Suzume's chin lifted as he surfaced from his ragged hair. Ardent fire kindled such conviction in his burning gold eyes at what she said. Satisfied that she had reached him, Lin cringed as the fox's fire warmed the unyielding granite of her being all the way to her core. It almost melted her resolve, making her want to lay back down beside him and lay her head on his knee. Lithely Lin evaded his reaching hand. Deftly she smoothed her fingers over Kokoro and Makoto's heads. Fleet and fast, she fled their den, closing the slider firmly behind her, because she had work to do.

Like a winter ghost Lin skulked through the small sitting room outside, creeping down the front stairs and pausing halfway down to frown across the main hall below. Little Green Frog was peering through a crack in the front sliders, letting a blade of swirling snow gust inside. He cocked his ear and listened with intense concentration. The tiny kami wore only his usual indigo yukata. So did the rest of the bath house Gods gathered in a tight knot at his back. Unlike humans they didn't feel the cold. So it wasn't because of the snow that they loitered as if reluctant to go over to the main house.

"Give them a few minutes? They're fighting again…"

Little Green Frog hushed tremulously. Lin could barely hear him over the singing whistling snow rattling the double drawn racks of the garden sliders.

"Why are Jae-san and Megumi-san always fighting, Nana-chan?"

Hiko appealed to Natsumi. All the while Ginka trussed up her sister's sleeves for work. The sound of their voices so very close chipped a dangerous crack through Lin's granite heart. Unconcerned by the row in the kitchen, the old yuna smiled secretly as if enjoying a private joke.

"Because they're not brave enough to act on what is in their hearts, little flower."

Aniyaku croaked sullenly, wringing his usually jauntily perched cap in his webbed hands. Unlike the others he was dressed in sumptuous white and yellow silks. Natsumi's smirk turned sour as she glanced sideways at the clown as the frog continued to complain.

"They'll have the whole house up soon and we'll be drowning in complaints!"

Sweet faced and eager to help, Yoshi stuttered timidly.

"Y-y-you w-want m-me t-ttt-to ttt-t-talk t-t-t-to th-th-them?"

The gardener shrank as Aniyaku scoffed in his face.

"Ha! They'll have killed each other by the time you can get a word straight!"

Lin found herself on her feet chewing furious words. But the rabbit beat her to it, rounding on the toad and scolding him in an unusually angry hush.

"Shame on you, Aniyaku! Yoshi's only trying to help!"

Little Green Frog sighed as the foreman went red-cheeked and began sputtering again.

"They're not going to listen to anyone when they're like this. They never do."

Lin would see about that.

Standing and striding down the steps she scattered the Gods around her.

Little Green Frog knocked against the slider gaping up at her in wide-eyed with terror.

Hastily she waved him aside with her only hand.

"Move!"

The tiny kami scrambled away with a startled _ribbet!_ Lin jerked the slider open with her only hand not so much as flinching from the stinging ice. But she came up short as the back door to the kitchen ripped open. Stunned, she stared in utter confusion as a human dumped onto the back porch in a tangled roll. Lin jumped as the boards beneath the human ripped up and catapulted him off the veranda. The human's shriek was swallowed by the whistling snow as he sailed through the air. He disappeared abruptly, enveloped entirely in a thick bank of snow leaving behind a perfectly etched outline of his comically splayed arms and legs.

"Ouch…."

Little Green Frog winced at her heels as he peered around her shins.

"Looks like Mr. Jae's been cussing again."

* * *

 **HAKU**

Without hesitation Haku darted after his friend and launched off the back veranda. Out he darted, out into the blinding white-out of tempestuously stinging veils of swirling ice. His skin smarted and burned as Haku swam through the air, fighting the storm as it buffeted him sideways by the surging winds. He was not fast enough to catch the male before he plummeted into the drifts. Landing lightly atop the shifting piles of snow he did not so much as sink. Reaching into the deep rut Jae had created upon impact Haku hauled the human upright out of the waist deep snow. The male loosed a strangled curse, foundering in crumbling white as he struggled in a panic.

Then Lin appeared out of the devouring white perched atop the snow proving she was not human. Haku froze as he stared up at her. She was wearing nothing but a billowing indigo yukata, weathering the biting smarting ice without so much as flinching. The empty sleeve flapped and fluttered against her back as her long hair became a wild whipping ebony pennant in the singing shrieking wind. As she stared between them irritably the God wing sliders jerked open. Haku's insides went perfectly still as he gazed up at the faces of his family. The kami were a motley assembly unified only by their round eyes both wide and disbelieving. They stared as if he was a phantom conjured by the storm. Haku jerked as Lin's only hand closed over his shoulder. It tightened to the point of pain.

"Inside!" She shouted over the screaming wind.

Slinging Jae's arm over his shoulder Haku sprang into the air fighting the howling mistrals. He landed lightly on the veranda of the God Wing, so lightly he drifted sideways violently slamming his shoulder into a brace beam. He bounced off the thick board of wood in a blinding spike of pain, stumbling and dragging the human with him. His ankle jarred in a burst of agony that set him limping again. Gritting his teeth, he endured the pain as cold throbbed in the newly mended bones above his ankle. The old breaks in his wrist ached similarly. Wanting another long soak and feeling like a decrepit old man, Haku laid Jae out in the middle of the matted floor and collapsed onto his heels beside him. The human slowly soaked thru as the powdery snow coating him like the flour on Megumi's loaves melted. Jae was shivering so violently his teeth chattered like the clacking sliders that jerked shut at their back. His clogs were gone. So was the flame colored cloth on his brow.

Helplessly they stared at each other until anger found Haku.

Hissing beneath his breath lest the house still be listening Haku hotly chastised the male.

"You are a fool to provoke her!"

Jae only cracked a sorry smile as his gray eyes flashed merrily.

"S-s-sorry, m-man! Y-you know I love _d-diffic-c-cult_ women!"

Haku found an odd smile on his lips at his friend's unabashed reply.

Oh, these vexing humans! How he adored them!

At once a riot of Gods whisked around them. Brisk and business-like, Natsumi descended on Jae and stripped the human's soggy jacket from his shoulder with all the swift expertise of a hunter skinning its game. Jae was meek and red with embarrassment as she trussed him tightly in a blanket. Again he squealed as she reached beneath the edge of the quilt only to whisk free the male's pants. Shaking out the dripping garments the old yuna carried them off toward the rear of the room to hang them out to dry. Haku cringed in terror as Usagi gently draped a thick quilt around his shoulders. But the soft brown rabbit did not tear off his clothes as he feared she might. She retreated timidly as Onsen kindled in the form of a bright warm flame within the recessed hearth set into the center of the room. The fire sputtered as if ashamed. She sent up a thin curl of smoke that smelled faintly of camphor leaves drifting toward the distant rafters. Unperturbed by the rejection he had received moments prior, bundling in on himself like some huge silk-worm, Jae inched across the tatami to huddle beside the warmth of the sullen fire. As he did Little Green Frog crept up beside the human, perching there and peered at him sideways uncertainly.

"Pardon me, sir? You shouldn't swear so much. She doesn't like it."

Jae snorted sardonically, never taking his gaze off the blaze. A calm blank expression transformed his face. The flickering reflection of white fire danced on his wide shining eyes. Still shivering violently, the male stuttered like the sweet-faced gardener as his teeth rattled.

"No s-s-shit, little man!"

Little Green Frog fled with a gasp as the blaze heaved crackling furiously. Jae endured her fit, cringing as flying embers burned pin holes in the quilt.

"Fuck, house!" He complained quietly, "This's who I am. Will you just deal with it already an' stop tryin' to change me?"

At once the flames snapped small and placid in the hearth as if startled. Equally surprised, Haku held back his reprimands looking on cautiously. Onsen seemed to be listening as Jae continued.

"We got off on the wrong foot, you an' me. I know you don't like us but you're not gonna scare me away 'cause I want to be here, got it? I could go anywhere but I want t'cook in your kitchen! I'm head chef here! D'you know what a break this is for me? You've been in fancy travel magazines! Fancy fuckin' people come here from all across the country an' they eat my cooking! That's a once in a life-time opportunity for someone like me!"

Haku's heart thrilled in his chest as the human announced he intended to stay of his own will. Jae continued to mutter at the guttering fire with increasing vehemence. As he did Jae swayed and gestured with his hands as his movements took on an unconscious persuasive tempo. Caught up in it, the fire swayed and crackled in time, just as fascinated with him as he was with her.

"I'll try t'be better about swearin', but you gotta stop being so… so," he paused, struggling in frustration as he barely refrained from cursing, "Stop being so _freakin' scary_ , alright?!"

A contrite hint of pink crept through the pale hue of her flames.

Haku drew his lip into a thin smile as he witnessed the house's blush.

"What t'hell are you grinnin' about, man!?"

Haku flinched as Jae glared at him sideways.

Abruptly the male looked back at the fire as his face drew into tight angry lines.

"Sorry," he blurted reluctantly, "Sorry I tore you a new one before you left."

Haku blinked rapidly, remembering how the male has cursed at him, threatened him with violence then fled without a further word. It felt to very, very far away; just as far as Ueno Park and the Oni Rocks. Aburaya felt even farther still. All the same, the consequences of his actions haunted him just as they continued to haunt the ones he held close and dear in his heart. Bowing unconsciously, Haku repeated the words he had repeated so many times before.

"It is I who should apologize to you, Jae-san."

Startled, Haku jumped as the male bit at him again.

"Goddamnit, Kou! Stop being so _goddamn_ formal an' quit apologizin' for everything!"

Jae scrubbed his face with his hands before glaring again.

His gray eyes were brimming with conflict that slowly tempered.

"I was supremely pissed at you when you left, man! At the time all this _shit_ was your fault as far as I was concerned. But Amano started working on me. We used to go drinking in town at the Yamada's to blow off steam. He made me see that you're just as lost in all this shit as we are. You might be made of wind, man, but that doesn't mean you're responsible for every fuckin' wind that blows!"

Haku smiled ruefully as Onsen popped and flared in protest.

The human cringed from the fire's angry crackling only to wilt in exasperation.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! Jesus _effing_ Christ, this is gonna be so _freakin'_ hard!"

But the human's words hummed inside his head even still.

Kubi had told him as much on many occasions; so had Amano.

The words, however, echoed inside his hollowed heart until they dissolved into silence.

Haku jolted form his brooding as Lin was suddenly standing over them.

"Here."

His sister dropped a folded indigo yukata and a padded happi bound by obi at Jae's feet.

"No offense, but get dressed and get out. We want him to ourselves for a bit."

The human seized them and disappeared under his quilt, struggling and heaving as he scrambled to get dressed. All the while the little flowers tittered with giggles at his back. Catching the edge of the quilt Lin ripped it away making Jae yelp again as he scrambled to tie a knot at the waist of his robe. He flattened to the mats as Lin loomed over him dour-faced and impatient as she stabbed a finger toward the front slider. He scrambled upright and sprinted for the door. It whisked open and closed before and after him without being so much as touched. As shadows and snow writhed at his back, Haku whirled and found Gods ringed the room.

Yoshi and Usagi had taken seats at the opposite side of the long table. As if he wanted to sit closer the reedy gardener scooted nearer and nearer the table until he was pushing it across the tatami. Shy as always, Usagi held perfectly still, staring at him sideways with her large brown eyes as if ready to bolt at any moment. Red and gold against the drab interior, Hika and Ginko pulled alternately on Little Green Frog's sleeves. As he looked back and forth between them he wilted further and further with each of his harried shrugs. Sitting opposite them Aniyaku sputtered and huffed as he fidgeted in angry exasperation. When the pompous bullfrog to open his mouth to say something Lin rounded on him with a withering glare as Aburaya's former foreman silenced with a startled _ribbet!_

The bright boiling questions in their eyes bore down on him like a crushing wave.

Haku felt as if the world was growing larger and larger all around him.

Perhaps he was shrinking instead?

All the same a hot cold vice tightened around his throat.

Haku was not sure he could put to words anything, least of all what had happened.

Nor did he want to.

He did not want them to know what he had seen.

He did not want them to know what he had done.

As Aniyaku cleared his throat expectantly again and again Lin bristled in fury. Haku could sense that the kami would not be able to contain themselves much longer. Clucking her teeth angrily, Natsumi returned to wave disapprovingly at the hovering Gods as she folded up beside him protectively. He cringed as she placed a cold consoling hand on his shoulder. Suddenly he scrambled blindly to produce the narrow fold of his tatter cloak from his robe front. Parting the whispering fabric he produced a thin stack of papers. These he pressed wordlessly into Natsumi's fingers not trusting himself to speak. She blinked frowning in confusion until she froze. The yuna forgot her ministrations as she riffled through the pages over and over. As she did she sat back onto her heels as all the color drained from her paper-thin face. With uncharacteristic forcefulness Natsumi shoved a page into Lin's only hand. Lin scowled between the thin sheet of paper and the old yuna before she recognized the feral handwriting.

Scratched onto the contract was a single syllable character.

It was all that remained of the true name Lin had written there long, long ago.

The fox had returned her name but he could not free Lin from Yubaba's spell.

As long as their contracts survived the bath house kami were compelled to work.

Haku could not return their names as only fragments remained on the pages.

But at least he could return their freedom.

On his knees craning and peering so vigorously he upset his eboshi hat, Aniyaku impatiently pounded his fist on the table demanding an explanation. Suddenly on her feet and standing over him in a blink, Natsumi shut the bullfrog up by rudely shoving a page right in his face. Aniyaki scrambled to catch it, blinking at it closely only to deflate back onto his heels in blank faced shock. Darted around the room swifter than her years Natsumi distributed the other sheets to the former bath house kami. Usagi looked on in bewilderment as Yoshi stood stuttering and pointing endlessly at his page making astonished sounds. Suddenly the frog was laughing, low and shy at first, but then louder and louder until he was jumping. Yoshi pulled Aniyaku upright and danced him around in a circle. Leaving the mute bullfrog to gape soundlessly as Hika, Ginko, and Little Green Frog hopped and spun around him, capering around the long table in a growing parade of joyous dancing. As they did the former bath house kami waved their contracts over their heads.

"We're free!"

The little flowers sang in exultation.

Little Green Frog laughed and whooped, conjuring a song to accompany their frolicking.

"No more buckets! No more soap! No more scrubbing like a dope!"

Haku blinked, glancing away from the frogs and the flowers as Natsumi returned to fold forward on her knees beside him by the fire. Reverently she pressed the last remaining page to her chest. The old yuna held it up in front of her so the blazing bright fingers made it translucent. Then she tossed the contract into Onsen's flames. Hungrily the fire snapped it up and reduced it to eroding cinders. Ringing silence fell on the room as Hika and Ginko folded up on the edge of the hearth tossing in their contracts as well. Natsumi gathered the flowers into her arms holding them tightly as they snuggled close watching the fire eat. Little Green Frog and Yoshi bent in perfect unison to release their contracts. As they burned Usagi slipped her hands around the gardener's middle and squeezed until he uttered a strangled _ribbet!_ Little Green Frog rolled his eyes only to clamber aside so Aniyaku could slip his into the blaze with a lofty dignity at odds with the tears cutting tracks through his clownish make-up. Finally Lin's contract was all that remained. Balling the page tighter and tighter in her fist she hurled in into the fire making cinders billow.

All this Haku watched in silence from beneath the tangled curtain of his hair.

He watched as Lin uttered a shuddering gasp as her vicious expression wiped away.

A flood of wild relief followed that Haku understood all too well.

It was the look of one long held captive now free.

Tighter and tighter he clenched his fist against his knee.

No amount of water could wash away the curse he bore.

Soon the spreading black would drive him from his home.

But gladly he went with the knowledge that the curse had made this possible.

Haku lurched sideways with a startled yelp as Lin seized him by the sleeve of his robe. Then she dragged him into a rough and crushing embrace. More and more arms folded around him until he was all but hidden by kami. Stunned and elated, he found even Aniyaku at the edge of their midst. Haku sagged as cold and soothing respite washed through him. The weight of the ghosts perched on his shoulders eased. The echoing pain in his hollowed heart dissipated. So did the terrible loneliness that had for so long been a part of the fabric of his very being. First as a God and then as an aberration, for so very long he had stood apart. Though most of the kami had been kind to him, Haku feared the truth behind their actions. He feared that they only feigned acceptance because circumstances compelled them. But now he knew their gratitude and affection was real.

It was a strange and wonderful thing to allow himself to be accepted.

It left his head light on his shoulders as his chest swelled with such a jumbled riot of emotions.

As always, his chest was much too small to hold all he was feeling.

It robbed his breath away until he went weak and giddy.

" _I cannot breathe!"_ Haku gasped tremulously, _"Please! I cannot!"_

Stranger and stranger; it was Aniyaku who championed him this time. The bullfrog's clammy hands tugged on Yoshi's arms. The reedy gardener was blubbering on Haku's shoulder.

"Release him, you gibbering fool! Give him some air!"

As Haku sprawled on the tatami struggling to breathe the Gods thronged around him.

But then it was Lin who was hard pressed by the interest of the Kami.

"W-w-welc-c-come h-hom-m-me M-M-Miss-s-s Lin.

Yoshi stammered bashfully.

"Where are your babies, Miss Lin? Natsumi said you had twins."

Usagi inquired shyly.

"Twins! We want to see!"

Ginka began and Hiko ended insistently.

"Yes, we want to see!"

As Lin foundered in their enthusiasm the foreman frog scoffed.

"Babies? What babies!?"

Little Green Frog grinned broadly reveling the gap in his teeth as he patted his belly.

"You can't've forgotten! Miss Lin was ready to pop last time you saw her!"

Going pink Aniyaku sputtered indignantly as Yoshi laughed good natured as always.

Natsumi glanced at the thin frog slyly.

"Don't laugh too hard, Yoshi. Not with the way you and Usagi have been carrying on."

The gardener went absolutely red as the rabbit dipped her chin with a shy smile.

And it was Aniyaku's turn to guffaw.

All at once Haku's world pulled back into balance at the sound of laughter. He wobbled on his feet unsteadily as Lin hauled him upright fighting a smirk. But then she caught the same flash in the firelight behind the knot of the Gods pressed around them. Looking up, Haku found Suzume standing atop the stairs regal in robes of gold that matched the flickering fire in his eyes. The fox had bound the top half of his ebony hair to keep it from the reaching hands of the God children cradled in the bow of his arms. Although he did not look rested Haku was heartened to see the despair that previously robbed the God of vitality was gone. Instead rare joy lit up the fox's face as he absently patted and patted his children. As the fox regarded him Suzume inclined his head ever so slightly. Haku blinked in surprise at the freely offered show of respect. As he bowed hastily the God disappeared leaving Haku to wonder.

"Hey, guys?"

Haku leapt on a gusting wind that made the Gods gasp and the fire gutter as Sen spoke up from directly behind him. She cringed from the gale before waving it away in annoyance. Stunned, Haku realized he had completely forgotten her in the kitchen! Though she was windblown and disheveled, she did not so much as flinch from the cold breaking on her back as she pulled the slider shut. If anything she steamed slightly.

"They're getting ready to start the morning work. Um… How does that usually go?"

Suddenly a cold point of anxiety formed in the pit of his stomach at the word. Work: none of the kami were compelled to work anymore nor were they required to stay. The point became a sharp blade of fear that set his hands tightened into shaking fists. And he could not bring himself to look at the kami as the tight silence became strained. What would that mean for the Hakuryo Onsen? What would that mean for their family? Strangely it was Natsumi who spoke and not Lin. As if nothing had changed the old yuna turned to Sen with an easy smile dusting her hands.

"Hiko, Ginka, and I set up to serve breakfast."

Here Yoshi gestured toward the garden.

"W-w-we shovel t-t-the s-ss-snow back-k and-d f-front-t-t."

Little Green Frog grinned wickedly as he could not lie.

"Full disclaimer: avoid me when I work. I like to throw snowballs."

Usagi fidgeted timidly.

"I'm scared of the kitchen and the dining room so I get the baths ready."

Lin nodded, already heading for the door.

"I'll come help you. A one armed waitress is no good to anyone."

Natsumi stepped into her path shaking her head.

"No, you're taking the day off."

Lin stood stock still blinking rapidly as if she had never considered such a thing.

" _Shoo!_ Go feed those little babies!"

The old yuna was hiding a smile as she flapped her apron. At a loss, Lin hesitated at the bottom of the stairs obviously torn until Natsumi gave her a push. Reluctantly she climbed the stairs with many backwards glances before disappearing up into the second level. Haku's heart sang happily as he watched her go.

Therein lay the difference.

The kami now worked because they chose to, not because they were bound by contracts.

Unfortunately that came with complications.

"I am taking the day off also!" Aniyaku announced imperiously.

Natsumi wilted in exasperation before planting tiny hands on her hips.

"And who will staff the welcome station on your day off?"

"That is your problem, yuna! Not mine!"

The bullfrog croaked with a dismissing wave. He strode off to the small private bath at the back of the first floor ignoring the irritable glances of the other Gods. Then Sen came forward flashing smiles and returning enthusiastic hugs as the other kami began filing past out the front slider for the main house in burst after burst of snow. As they were the only ones left Sen was able to turn to Natsumi.

"I can help. I remember what to do."

The old yuna looked between them with a slowly forming frown as she began fretting.

"You should rest as well. You only just returned."

Here she beamed sunnily and flipped her apron at them.

"I will ask one of your humans to call Naniko. She will be happy for the work. Now, shoo!"


	45. Chapter 45

**SEN**

Sen didn't shoo. After witnessing what had happened just now in the God Wing she was wide awake. Her insides were still ringing and ringing with the laughter of the kami as she remembered again with quiet awe what she'd seen through a crack in the slider. Kohaku hadn't just gone after the gold in Yubaba's office. She recognized the Aburaya contract immediately. And her insides scrambled uncertainly as she wondered why he hadn't told her sooner. As the scattering ashes of the burning pages lifted in looping curls through her empty head again the bell in her heart tolled distantly. The bell was constantly ringing inside her head. It rang at this and that for no apparent reason, driving her crazy at times. But Sen was learning to listen, learning to hear meaning in meaninglessness.

This time it rang to mark the end of the long lingering spell.

Another chapter in their long story came to a close; done and finished.

The bath house kami were finally free and she should've been jumping for joy alongside them.

But all she could see was the spreading stain of black on Kohaku's hand.

Shaking her head vigorously scattering the ashes and the smoke, Sen tucked up into the kitchen nook over another cup of coffee. Oh, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee! She almost squealed in joy. Kohaku joined her. He sat closely pressed to her side even though the other benches were empty. Cuddled against each other they waited in anticipation of the croissants, watching as Megumi piped strange circles of chilled batter onto baking sheets. The kitchen was full to the rafters with the yeasty sweet smell of baked bread as the sheets of buttery pastries cooled in the slots of a rolling frame of racks at her back. Tearing her eyes away from the racks, Sen looked across the room as Kenka straightened from the telephone nook. Kenka hung up the phone with a frown as he turned to Natsumi.

"That's weird. No one is answering at the shrine."

The old yuna was still staring askance at the telephone in wide-eyed horror. Of all the kami only Lin, and surprisingly Aniyaku, were brave enough to use human technology. The tiny God had twisted her apron into a thick wadded knot while she waited. Meg called over her shoulder without pausing her work.

"The lines are probably down because of the storm."

Natsumi bowed in acknowledgement and offered another alternative.

"Perhaps they have not risen yet?"

Like a startled bird Natsumi fled to perch on the top step leading to the front hall as Jae emerged from the pantry with a massive block of wax-paper wrapped chocolate. Still waiting for his clothes to dry, he looked like a sushi chef in his indigo yukata, happi, and apron. He clacked around barefoot perched on wooden geta as his clogs had gone missing in the snow drifts.

"Man, it's _stupid_ early! No one's up this early except us!"

As he dropped the chocolate at Kenka's station he waved the tall human away from the phone.

"Now get your skinny butt over here and shave this for Meg."

Glancing at the kitchen clock Sen read 5:42 AM.

Outside snow continued to swirl restlessly.

"Nana-chan?"

Hiko began as she poked her head under the front split cushion.

"How are we setting up the tables again?"

Ginka finished as she bloomed beside her sister.

Natsumi blinked before shooing them out of the kitchen muttering to herself.

"Oh, dear."

As she disappeared to help with the great room Jae was back at the refrigerator.

"Shi…! I mean, shoot! I need eggs like right freakin' now! I know we only have two guests but I need to feed 'em something other than pastries! I was gonna make a boss quiche with that asparagus."

He was waving at Kenka again.

"When you're done with that chocolate take the back door to the shrine an' wake up Kai. Get 'im to steal Naniko's keys so he can go to the store to bring us some eggs."

Megumi frowned dourly as she paused in the middle of piping.

"Kai is not our errand boy!"

Jae snorted, glaring over the ranges at her.

"You want me to send Kenka instead?"

Kenka's knife hovered over the block of chocolate as he blinked between them in confusion.

Apparently he hadn't heard anything Jae said.

"Huh?"

Jae waved his hand as if it was decided.

"Exactly. I'll give the kid 1000 Yen for his trouble."

Megumi tossed her chin challengingly, still refusing.

"He's only eleven, Jae!"

"So? He's over here all the time anyway. We keep him outta trouble."

Megumi scoffed.

"How is sending him to break into a grocery store keeping him out of trouble!?"

Jae groused back.

"It's not breaking and entering if you have the keys an' you're payin' cash!"

Here Kohaku distracted them with an he interjected a question as if it had just occurred to him. He was peering toward the front curtain with hopeful expectancy.

"Where are Satako and Chouchin?"

Kenka blinked before pointing into the distance as if it helped.

"Oh, uh… She and her mom moved to Kyoto, dude."

Kohaku looked stricken. Another anxious wind blew out of him sending the lights overhead swinging again. He breathed the name of the city desolately like it was all the way on the moon.

"Kyoto!?"

Sen made a disappointed sound, pulling a sour moue as she wilted.

"So Mrs. Tanaka didn't take me up on my offer?"

Kenka cringed with a sorry smile, back to slicing curls of chocolate.

"No. She was really sorry about it too."

Sen was surprised by how upset she was. Satako had become a regular part of her life.

"I was hoping they'd adjust…"

Jae snorted ungenerously, muttering the next with dripping sarcasm.

"You don't adjust to being here, Chihi-chan. You stay or you leave!"

Sen bit her lip against an angry reply. Michio was the only one who called her Chihi-chan. She didn't want anyone else to call her that. It was too painful a reminder that Michio hadn't been able to adjust either. So she left just like Mrs. Tanaka had. As if sensing her sorrow, Onsen creaked and popped unhappily until Kenka began placating the ceiling.

"We're still here, aren't we?"

As the house settled Kenka offered happier news.

"Don't worry; she and Cho-cho are here all the time. Saka-chan has one of those token thingies. She comes through the back door all the way from Kyoto."

Here the sous-chef grinned broadly whispering as he gossiped.

"Kai's really sweet on her. I think that's really why he's always hanging around."

Jae made a face as he wiped down his station, cleaning almost unconsciously.

"Man, I'd hang out here all the time too if my uncle kept trying to get me to become a priest!"

Sen blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

Kenka explained. Somehow he seemed to know everything about everyone.

"Keiichi's trying to get Kai to become his apprentice."

For some reason she found that surprising.

"Really? What does Amano say about that?"

Kenka winced, trying to be delicate.

"He doesn't, remember? Keiichi's nice to offer. It's not like Kai can become a fisherman."

It was Jae turned to be confused.

"Why t'hell not? His dad's got a boat. Make's sense it should go to him."

Kenka frowned at him with a sober expression.

"Dude, Kai's seriously afraid of water. Remember he wouldn't even go down to the docks to pick up our fish?"

Jae's screwed his face into a grimace as he gritted his teeth.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, man. I forgot."

And Sen knew why Kai hated water. The boy's mom drowned. That was enough to keep any little kid away from water. Gladly Sen turned away from the dark past as Megumi spoke up casually, redirecting the conversation to something entirely new.

"Last time she was here Satako said she wants to learn how to dance."

Kohaku shook in surprise as another wind gusted out of him.

"Satako wishes to dance?"

Jae rolled his eyes as he bent to dig his cleaning clothe into tiny crevices in the counter.

"Only 'cause Meg showed her your fan! Now she won't shut up about it!"

Megumi switched from piping little balls to long rounded rectangles. Cool and professional, she never stopped working, not even as she slyly broached the subject. Apparently this was something she had been working at for a while. It had the air of machinations.

"We could teach her. There's that big room on top of the God Wing."

Jae spat a laugh, jabbing his thumb at the back window.

"I don't think they'd be cool with us jumping up and down on top of their house all night long!"

Quietly Kohaku laid that worry to rest as a light went on in his eyes at the idea.

"Quite the contrary. They would be sad if not invited to participate. You witnessed at New Year's how much we enjoy performing. You would be welcome to join us."

How could any of them forget the dazzling display of dance and theatrics at the winter festival? Sen hadn't. She could still see Kohaku and Cinna whirling and weaving. Hope transformed Megumi's usually sour face as she openly pressed the subject. Sen found herself staring as the lean woman lit up revealing she was so very beautiful when she wasn't scowling or glaring at everyone and everything as if it was her job to give them a letter grade.

"It would only be one night a weak, Jae! It would be just like the Yamada's on New Year's!"

Apparently Megumi remembered New Year's more than fondly.

Then she flinched as Jae slammed the dirty dishes into the wide stainless steel sink.

"If you wanna teach the kid, then teach the kid! If you wanna go dance, then dance! But leave me out of it, Meg!"

Tensions flared, making the room seem so much smaller as Megumi threw down her empty piping bag. It clattered loudly as she braced her hands on the edge of the counter bowing her head and spitting the admission as if it cost her dearly.

"You know I can't teach by myself!"

Jae was scrubbing viciously, refusing to look at her.

"Kou just offered! Christ, Meg! I'll never understand why you want to drag me back into this!"

Megumi snapped. Seizing her piping bag she threw it at him shouting in outrage.

"Because you love dancing and you're wasting yourself by refusing…!"

Whirling as batter splattered on his back, Jae cut her off shouting right back in her face.

"No, you're the one wasting yourself on me! I'm never going back, Megumi! _Never!_ An' if I have t'give up dancing entirely t'prove that to you, _then so fuckin' be it!_ "

As they starred at each other in stunning silence fell on the kitchen. Onsen must've been surprised too because she didn't scold them for cursing. Kohaku was gripping the edge of the table so tightly his knuckles were white. Sen gritted her teeth as she glanced at Megumi from the corners of her eyes. The human's face was twisted with disgust, but her eyes were a riot of hurt and disappointment. Too quickly, as if she was used to all of this, ice replaced the pain as Megumi drew herself up tall and straight lifting her chin challengingly.

"You're right. You don't understand."

Whirling on her toes she darted back into the pantry, kicking off her clogs and tearing the apron from around her waist. She emerged wearing expensive peacock colored leather boots, a plush lavender muffler and an exceptionally soft looking ivory white wool coat buttoned up all the way to her chin in a stylish cut. Sen blinked at the white leather handbag on her arm. Megumi could've walked the streets of Ginza in that get-up without drawing a second look. Even though he'd basically told her to take a hike, Jae hastily dried his hands scowling in dismay as barred the way to the back door.

"Hey! Hey!? What t'fuck, Meg!? Where t'hell are you going!?"

She shoved him out of the way and slapped the Matsuzaki tile in place.

The slider ripped open on the living room of an unfamiliar house.

Still showing him her back she called back frostily.

"I need eggs for the pastry cream. The Lawson's around the corner is open 24 hours. I'll be back but don't you dare let my éclairs burn!"

As she slammed the door in his face hastily Kenka put the last of her baking trays in the oven. Still cringing and staring at Jae's back cagily, he started another timer. Stumbling back from the door shaking visibly Jae clenched and unclenched his hands. Turning to them as if he didn't know what to do, Jae's intensely troubled gray gaze darted back and forth between them as he appealed for help.

"You're a girl and you might as well be a girl! Tell me what _t'fuck_ all that was about?!"

Sen opened her mouth in a loss, glancing at Kohaku uncertainly. He was just as shocked as she was. She hadn't anticipated being called in to commend on such intimate issues. She didn't really know Jae or Megumi well enough to feel comfortable commenting. Fortunately Kenka started up hotly.

"Dude. You're not blind and you're not stupid. So why are you so goddamn scared?"

Pulling a double boiler from beneath his work station calmly Kenka clacked over to the sink, circumventing Jae so he could fill the bottom pot. Returning to his board ,he carefully transferred the chocolate shavings inside the top pot and placed them atop a low blue flame on the range. All the while Jae sputtered, making thwarted sounds as he followed his friend's every move. Finally he spat out a defensive excuse.

"What t'fuck's that s'posed t'mean!?"

Kenka kept stirring and stirring the chocolate until it drizzled in long ribbons from his spoon. Finally, as if he couldn't stand the quiet, Jae started being straight with them as much as himself.

"She needs to go back, man! This isn't where she belongs!"

Kenka laughed derisively, glaring at Jae like he was stupid as he kept stirring.

"Who the hell do you think you are!? What right do you have to tell Meg where she belongs!?"

Jae threw his hands at the ceiling and barked back furiously.

"Do you want her to stay here with us making éclairs for the rest of her life!?"

"Yes!" Kenka snapped back, "If it makes her happy, then yes!"

Absolutely pale as if it was the last thing he wanted, Jae threw his hand at the back door.

"But she could go back there an' stick it to that blue-blood snot-nosed _fuck_ of a brother of hers! She solos like a dream, man! She doesn't have to suck up to him anymore! She could go independent!"

It became very clear by the way Jae was talking that he was very much still interested in dancing, just not his dancing. More than annoyed Kenka fetched a tray of croissants from the cooling rack. With quick flicks of a fork he drizzled melted chocolate over the buttery crescents.

"If she wanted to go back and show up Sora she would've left already."

Jae cut Kenka off the same way he cut of Megumi making assumptions at the same time.

"I'm not going to go back with her!"

At a loss, the tall sous-chef stared at him incredulously.

"Dude, you really are an idiot, aren't you! She's not trying to get you to go back with her! If you'd listen instead of biting off her head every time she brings up dancing you'd see that!"

Clacking to the counter Jae pointed accusingly over the division between their workstations.

"Then why t'fuck is she still here, eh!? Why else would she stay unless it's to work on me to get me to go back to that fuckin' hole of a city!?"

Cross-eyed with restrained anger Kenka shook his fists spattering himself with chocolate.

"Gods, you are such a pretentious prick sometimes!"

As the back door rattled open Jae shrank against the counter looking like he might climb it to get away from the floor. All at once Kenka was waving at the ceiling hurriedly.

"No! This is important! Let him stay!"

As the sullen door rattled shut Kenka seized his friend by the sleeve over the dividing wall.

"All Megumi wants is to dance with you! There, I spelled it out for you! That's why she came after you at _Le Pichet_! That's why she's so mean to Kana and that's why she's still here! She doesn't give a damn where you dance, just so long as you dance, because if you're dancing that means there's at least a chance that you might dance with her!"

Kenka shoved him away hard and Jae foundered back into the middle of the room. Silent and wide-eyed with understanding he stood there staring at the floor incredulously. Again he worked his mouth uselessly, going pale as he stammered insult after insult directing every single one at himself as if repeating by memory all the terrible things he'd been told by others all his life.

"But I'm a punk! I'm a looser! I'm _h_ _ā_ _fu_!" (1)

Kenka shouted back with uncharacteristic ferocity making both Sen and Kohaku flinch.

"And I'm a faggot! A degenerate! And a freak! Do you really think _anything_ those _bigots_ have to say matters now that we know there's another world out there!? Who give a damn about all that now that we have to deal with _monsters, Gods, and magic_!?"

Slamming several croissants onto a plate Kenka stormed around the counter. Grabbing Jae as he passed the sous-chef forced him to a seat on one of the nook benches. Again Sen cringed against Kohaku, making him scoot sideways into the corner to give the humans room. Putting the plate on the table and flashing them both a supremely embarrassed expression, silently Kenka begged their indulgence. He bowed unconsciously even though he was always telling Kohaku not to bow. Then Kenka grabbed a croissant and shoved it at Jae as he dropped to his heels at his friend's feet.

"Eat this, shut up, and listen!"

As Jae took it reluctantly Kenka stared up at him with calm determination.

"Kazuo-sensei knew we were going to lose everything: our homes, our jobs, our lives, our friends and family, and every last shred of normalcy. I know you're pissed at sensei, but she brought us together for a reason. She told us when she hired us that we all had something to learn and something to teach. I don't think she was just talking about dancing or cooking or even Kami."

Kenka's voice went soft with compelling kindness.

"I know what it's like to be hated because of what I am. She know's what it's like to be isolated and belittled because of her short comings. You're so used to constantly fighting that you've started fighting everything. We understand why so we don't take you seriously. We're your friends, dude! But if you keep pushing and pushing one day she's gonna crack. She'll leave and it won't be to get eggs. Do you really want her to leave? Answer me honestly, dude!"

After a long moment of quaking silence Jae blurted the truth.

"Fuck, no!"

Kenka dropped his head with a long relieved sigh.

"Then stop being such an ass!"

Patting his friend's knee he straightened slowly as if suddenly seriously tired. Blinking rapidly and looking away suddenly absolutely red in the face, Jae shoved the croissant into his mouth. Chewing and chewing, he blinked at the pastry as if surprised.

"Damn, these are good!"

Spinning around, he slid the plate at them gesturing forcefully.

There was chocolate smeared on his lips as Jae cracked a grin.

"Eat! You're both too damned skinny!"

Hurriedly Kohaku took both a pastry and a polite bite nodding with forced enthusiasm. Suddenly they were arguing in Korean again as Jae kept gestured at the other pastry. And slowly the terrible tension hanging over the room like a cloud began to break. Sensing it as well, Kenka laughed sheepishly and threw up his hands as if he didn't know what else to do. He smiled at a loss.

"Welcome home!"

Then the oven timers went off and the cooks went scurrying.

They definitely did not want Megumi's éclairs to burn.

If they burned they couldn't eat them.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Still half asleep, his patting hands sought Sen.

But she was gone when he awoke.

Shortly after the humans returned to work in the kitchen he and Sen had returned to bed. Sitting up slowly and wondering where she had gone Haku blinked and cringed from the light streaming through the window. It hurt his raw eyes, making him blink and rub as they blurred. Shivering violently he pulled the quilt close around his shoulder. Numbly he just sat there staring at the spiraling patchwork patterns on the face of the blanket listening to the silence. The storm had passed leaving behind it an even bitterer blanket of cold. Every bone and muscle in his tiny fragile body ached with it, especially his wrist and his ankle. Haku considered lying back down and pulling the quilt over his head so he might return to sleep. But all too quickly he found himself worrying over Okesa. Dredging his compass from his pocket he stared at the needle dismayed as it drifted slowly. She was far, so very, very far away, so far he feared he might never see her again. Then all at once he remembered Kubi.

He had not been able to grieve for her properly on the courtyard at the foot of the restaurant district. There had not been time. But now he had time aplenty and it was difficult to keep his grief at bay as he found himself all alone. It rolled over him like a foundering wave he could not hope to crest and Haku sagged back onto the futon beneath its obdurate pull. Laying there with overwhelming pain twisting in his very bones, he prayed that be might become an insensible stone at the bottom of a deep deep river! For a brief blinding moment of petulance he wanted to escape the terrible prison of his human flesh. He wanted bitterly to be free of all the terrible aching pain born of the mortal emotions churning in his heart. Rage; shame; remorse; grief; but most of all loss.

There was not even enough room in his weak little mortal heart to hold the immensity of what he was feeling. It escaped him in other ways. The roof above creaked and lifted, flexing as a violent wind stirred within and without, responding to his angst for the first time since he had become mortal. He could hear the piled snow scouring the walls with its icy fingers as it was dragged free by a screaming wind that took up his lament. The swinging bulb above winked and flickered then went out. Finally spent, numb, and raw he found he had no more tears left. The wind outside quieted as exhaustion weighted him like a stone and quelling shame flooded in the wake of his windy outburst.

He could not continue to lay on the futon crushed beneath useless grief. Somehow he had survived trials that had claimed even Gods. It would be the greatest of sins to squander such a gift on the listlessness of selfish melancholy. Slowly Haku glanced overhead as Onsen pooled the invisible cloud of her worried presence in the rafters circling and circling the burned out bulb like a trapped bird uselessly beating its wings. As the rafters continued to groan and snap Haku blinked as he realized she was fretting over him. The house had no hands to console him. She had no voice to offer him gentle words. That only made his heart hurt more. But the sympathy he felt for his house moved him beyond the edge of his depression. Extending one of his hands finding even that simple act difficult, Haku patted the floor boards consoling.

"It is alright, Onsen."

She snapped the boards beneath the futon in sullen skepticism. He was a terrible liar after all. Slowly Haku found himself listening to the sounds filtering from afar. He could hear dishes clattering below. Kenka laughed high and easy, making his heart flutter. Then Haku found himself frowning as he heard strangers talking in the great room; elder humans; male and female. Sen's voice answered their sweetly. Suddenly curious, he rose from the futon shaking with enervation. As he shivered violently a door in the adjacent wall cabinet popped open. Inside Haku found a pair of indigo momohiki and a plush padded happi. Pulling on the soft cotton leggings he kilted his yukata higher, trussing the thick fold of fabric tightly at his waist with his obi. Over this he knotted the quilted vest close around his chest. Thanks to the layers Haku managed to stave off some of the chill. Lightly he crept on carefully place bare feet so the boards did not so much as make a sound. Onsen opened the door for him, following over his head like a mist as Haku took a right and crept to the top of the front stairs. Perched there he peered through the narrow gaps in the camouflaging slats that hid the steps from the welcome station and the main hall.

Steam smelling sharply of camphor and cedar breathed down the shuttered hall leading to the bath wing. The filtered vapor became an incandescent cloud as bright light poured through the closely drawn beige shutters. Nosily Haku craned his neck to watch the unfamiliar humans as they scooted down the hall from the great room. Red faced like freshly boiled lobster, a male and female wizened and bent with age scuffed by on slippers. They were dressed in street clothes and their aged faces bore broad happy smiles. Haku's interest pricked as Sen followed in their wake. She had not been able to resist the call to work after all. Although tired lines still circled her eyes, the smile on her lips and gleaming in her silver irises was more than real. Glowing with happiness, she paused by the welcome station and bowed with the practiced respect she had learned at Yubaba's Bath House.

"We're so pleased to hear you enjoyed breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Yanagita."

Sen wore Onsen's uniform with ease, dressed in the same indigo garb as their guests save she wore a worker's apron and her silver hair was bound a kerchief. As if smitten with her, the older female scooted forward to take and pat her hand, effusing in a smoky voice tremulous with age.

"Goodness, your hands are so warm! I wish I had your circulation, dear. Well, we more than enjoyed it, Miss Sen. I haven't had such a delicious omelet in years. It's like we were in Paris again!"

The bald round old human male patted his protruding belly like a tanuki as he beamed.

"You should sell those chocolate éclairs filled with matcha cream."

Sen bowed again, smiling wider and wider until her eyes all but disappeared.

"Perhaps we will, Mr. Yanagita."

Wearing human masks Yoshi darted forward to pick up their luggage as Little Green Frog produced their shoes, arranging them on the flag stones before withdrawing to the front door. The frogmen wore matching indigo uniforms to match Sen. They bowed and waited with happy smiles as the elderly human female dawdled at the front steps.

"I don't want to go, but I'm not sure how long this sunbreak will last. At least the rain melted the snow on the road. Your Onsen is just lovely, miss Sen. So well-kept and especially beautiful!"

The older male snorted in amusement. His voice was the sound of grated rocks.

"For a moment I thought we were in Hokkaido and not Izu!"

Here the male's wife sighed, patting Sen's hand again.

"I don't want to go. But I think we'll be back soon to take the waters again. Take care, dear!"

Sen was bowed in their wake as they shuffled into their shoes and out the front door as the frogmen parted the sliders. A blast of cold rolled in from outside smelling of powdery ice. Haku blinked as the glowing white world outside blinded him. Sen became a perfect outline of black as she scooted forward into a pair of geta, clacking out onto the front veranda waving vigorously.

"Good bye, Mr. and Mrs. Yanagita! See you soon!"

As soon as the elder humans were gone, Sen turned away from the front doors. They snicked shut for the briefest second before they parted again. At once Sen whirled, stifling a laugh as Kai squeezed through a part in the front doors.

"Kai! What're you doing out front? I thought you were drawing?"

At once Haku's insides were humming with surprise. Creeping down another step Haku left his blanket so he could stand and get a better look at the human child. Kai was hopping from foot to foot on the flag stones in the entryway as if in a terrible rush. Amano's child looked well. He was not nearly so thin as before. There were lights of mirth in his eyes and a grin on his lips. The young human's dark hair was sticking out from under his cap frozen with snow. His cheeks were pink and chapped with cold. The boy wiped his running nose on the tape patched sleeve of his dirty voluminous orange jacket as he shuffled impatiently.

"I'm playing hide 'n' seek with Hiko an' Ginka. I don't want t'be the oni yet. They're really good at hiding an' I'll never find them if they find me."

As if being found was a serious offense, Kai appealed to Sen in earnest pressing his gloved hands together and shook them like a priest. She was beaming again. She knelt to offer a folded handkerchief she produced from her apron pocket. Kai looked at it curiously and missed the point, wiping his nose on his sleeve again.

"Do y'know any good places t'hide?"

Sen glanced down the hall as she put the handkerchief away.

"What about the kitchen pantry?"

That was not suitable. The boy shrank shaking his head vigorously nearly dislodging his hat.

"Megumi-san makes me peel daikon!"

Haku found his heart strangely warmed by the ungainly child's antics. He was even more surprised by the smile suddenly pulling on his lips. Sen was laughing as she stepped out of her geta and climbed the front steps.

"Good. Maybe you can be a chef someday?"

Kai lit up like a firecracker. Darting to the front steps he enthused at the raised edge.

"Really!? Uncle Keiichi wants me t'study with him so I can learn how t'take care of t'shrine. That's why I'm staying with him. But I'd much rather be a cook. Mom used t'let me help her make dinner. I know how t'make her spaghetti sauce!"

The boy babbled as if unaccustomed to being heard, lifting his narrow chin hopefully. His bright pale gray eyes gleamed in the filtering sunlight.

"Do you think Uncle Keiichi will let me go home now that Kiri's back?"

Quietly Sen was forced to tell the child the truth. And she spoke to him as if he were an equal, not with the saccharine falsehoods adults often offered children.

"I don't know, Kai."

Suddenly sad and sober the child revealed he understood far too much for one so young.

"Dad's been really sad since mom died. He drinks too much when he's sad. That's why he's been drinking so much since Kiri left. Uncle Keiichi says I need t'stay at the shrine t'help him but I know it's 'cause he doesn't like it when dad drinks. They fight all the time 'cause of me."

Haku found his heart sinking in his chest with each of the child's words. But just as suddenly the cloud had passed over the boys eyes it whisked away and they brightened.

"Maybe I could I stay here instead?"

Sen startled at the suggestion, hesitating a moment before answering like a God. Trading question for a question she avoided telling the truth.

"Don't you like staying with your uncle and grandpa?"

Again Kai's chin dipped. Haku crept down another step to draw closer as the boy whispered.

"No. Not really. Taki and Yoji think I'm weird because I can see kami an' they can't. Grandpa Goshiro doesn't remember who I am half t'time. Naniko's just as sad as my dad an' Uncle Keiichi is really worried about her. He doesn't need t'be worrying about me too."

Here a hint of fear added an edge to the child's words.

"But really I don't like it there 'cause shrine's really creepy. I don't think it likes me."

Sen hurried to chase away that fear.

"Onsen likes you a lot. Don't you, Onsen?"

As she patted the polished wood floors the roof gave a companionable snap. Kai scrambled closer as if trying to warm himself beside her.

"You think I could see Kiri soon? She's gonna be my new mom soon an' I miss her."

Kai was appealing to Sen as if she had the power to grant his wishes. Haku knew that look all too well. He cringed for it was a terrible thing to be regarded thus. Such a look brought all the weight of the other's faith crashing down upon your shoulders. To break faith given with such blind believing trust was truly hell as it was proof that at times even hope was useless. Haku worried for Sen as she doted on the wayward boy as he doted on Satako. As if she could not resist Sen plucked his hat free to smooth his wild hair in a tender motion that made Haku's heart swell in his suddenly too tiny chest.

"First we have to tell Keiichi that Kiri is back."

The child blinked in surprise catching her hand and pressing it to his forehead.

"Wow!" He exclaimed with a grin that revealed his missing teeth, "Your hands are hot!"

Sen scooted closer beckoning him before glancing back and forth secretively.

"Wanna know why?"

At once the boy was nodding almost vibrating in place. Playfully she pulled his hat down over his eyes Kai giggled and pulled it up onto his brow. Then Sen took back her hands and rubbed them together vigorously. Watching in rapt fascination and deep disquiet Haku crept down another step until he was standing on the middle landing with his hands pressed to the slats. Bringing one of her fingers to her mouth Sen gently blew until a curl of smoke kindled from the tip. Kai lurched backwards with a gasp as a tiny white flame winked into existence atop her finger. Quickly blowing it out she giggled as the boy flooded against her seizing her hand and almost knocking her over to examine it thoroughly. Kai gawked up at her in abject awe, back to vibrating.

"Do it again!"

Here the boy startled shrinking to hide behind Sen as a shrill voice hushed angrily from the hall.

"Kai! What have I told you about coming here uninvited!"

Haku gusted back up around the bend as a grief brittle human female hurried down the hall. He recognized Naniko immediately. Still dressed in mourning black the female's tabi slick feet skidded on the polished boards as Sen straightened. Naniko went chalk white at the sight of her. She gaped and stuttered as if she had seen a ghost. When last Haku saw this human she dwindled on the edge of seeing but from the look she gave Sen Haku could tell Keiichi had told human all.

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry, Ogino-san! I didn't realize you were back!"

Naniko jolted again as Yoshi and Little Green Frog parted the front door and slipped in. They no longer bothered to wear their human faces.

"G'morning, Miss Naniko!"

Little Green frog bowed to her as he waddled by on his webbed feet. She bowed jerkily as he passed bowing again as Yoshi stammered shyly.

"M-m-morning, m-mm-miss."

Sen smiled broadly as the frogs passed bowing to her in deep respect before padding down the hall into the kitchen. Sen tried to sooth the human female's panic with a calming smile as Haku crept back down to look on from afar.

"It's okay, Nani. You can call me Sen, remember?"

She was leaning away as if wanting to bolt.

"Please excuse Kai's intrusion!"

Sen bowed slightly still trying to calm Naniko. Here Sen asked a careful question.

"Is Keiichi up?"

Naniko's voice pitched up an octave.

"Y-yes?"

Sen nodded slowly speaking just as slowly trying to reassure her.

"Kiri's back. Could you let Keiichi know?"

Naniko grabbed the edge of the welcome station as she repeated that in a whisper.

"Kiri's back?"

At once Sen had her arm urging her to a seat on the stool peering at her closely.

"Are you alright, Nani? You're really pale."

Haku could barely hear the other female speak the words rose on her bare breath.

"Is Kiri alright?"

Again Sen deftly avoided telling the truth as the former shrine maiden was decidedly not alright.

"She's with Amano. You might want to give them some time."

Sen skittered away from Naniko uncomfortably as the female slid off the edge of the stool and sank onto the boards bowing deeply with utmost formality. Haku began to understand why his dear friends always implored him not to bow as Sen flustered over the prone woman.

"Thank you so much, Ogino-san. Thank you for bringing Kiri home. They fight constantly but Kiri is Keiichi-san's twin sister and he's been sick with worry ever since…!"

The blade of horror severed her panicked whisper. Sinking to her knees, Sen tugged gently on the woman's arm murmuring reassuringly.

"It's okay, Nani. Everything's gonna be okay so please get up."

As if embarrassed Naniko rose sweeping at her bowed face before nodding.

"Yes… Yes, it has to be… Let's go, Kai."

Suddenly the child became defiant as he shrank from the female's reaching hand.

"No! I don't want to go back there!"

Naniko was shocked. As she regarded him blankly the boy stomped his foot.

"Kiri's back an' I want t'go home!"

Naniko hardened with an authority Haku did not realize she possessed.

"It's time to go, Kai. Please don't be rude in front of Ogino-san."

Kai refused shaking his head so vehemently he lost his hat.

"You're not my mom! You can't make me!"

Kicking off his shoes Kai clambered up the front steps and darted by ducking before Naniko could catch him. Gusting down onto the bottom step Haku craned his neck after the boy watching mutely as Kai scrambled upright and ran. With a gasp Naniko recoiled from him knocking back against the welcome station blank faced with terror. As the female skittered around its side Naniko knocked over the stool. It landed on the boards with a startling crack that jolted him off the ground in a billowing gust. Something in Sen's voice set premonition humming in Haku's bones as she pointed after the boy.

"Catch him!"

Whirling on his toes Haku Kai gave chase. Coiled wind burst beneath his feet as the floor dissolved, whisking by at speed. The split curtain billowed as he rocketed through. Arching high he landed firmly on the blue-green tiles in front of the back slider. The kitchen the floor rocked beneath his impact as wind erupted in the space. Megumi shrieked as Jae began cussing explosively. But Haku did not see or hear them. The portal was already open and Kai stood frozen a few steps across the threshold. Over the boy's head Haku saw the smashed interior of the Amano home. It was utterly destroyed.

A wide smear of bright red blood painted the wall. It appeared again on the filthy kitchen floor dragging to the back door where it disappeared. He thrilled with shuddering dread as the back door swung open, slamming against the wall as wind blew in from the back yard. The smell of incense and blood rolled on its invisible face, furling across the portal making every hair on his body stand on end as it broke over him. His heart slammed up into his throat at the familiar scent, making his sight momentarily gray as panic burned in his every nerve. A cold sweat broke out across Haku's body as his instincts screamed of danger. Terror turned his pumping blood to ice freezing him utterly. Then the sound of a child's voice roused him from his horror.

"Dad?" Kai called in a thin shrill voice.

Darting forward Haku caught the boy and retreated so swiftly a wind circled the ruined interior. It wafted the child's drawings where they tiled the walls in billowing age-yellowed scales. They were spattered in red. Then Sen stalked past his shoulder smelling strongly of wood smoke. Somehow in thin shreds of second she had donned battered silk steel armor and her fire-enchanted fujo robes. A blackened handprint still etched the bar of her gorget where the Forgotten Shurui had become clutched the plate. Quickly surveyed the house interior Sen struck forward and snatched the bath tile off the other side of the door preventing anything or anyone from crossing back once the door was closed. Then she put her back to the kitchen wall hovering on the threshold waiting to strike if need be. As she did she pulled a humming bow and bell fletched arrow from the thin air at her sides. Her incandescent eyes were made of glowing iron behind the gleaming red-gold phoenix mask hiding her face.

"Suzume!"

As Sen barked, curls of smoke issued around the edges of her mask. Then the God erupted into being beside her in a riot of snapping blue foxfire. He took one look through the door at the shattered interior and bleached of all color.

" _Dad!"_ Kai shrieked as he roused and began struggling wildly, _"DAD!"_

Hastily turning the boy over to Kenka Haku pulled on his dragon mask. His tatter cloak furled as he called war garb out from under its whispering hem. It stank of blood and fire. At once Hanoane was in his hand. He clutched a fan and bell in his other. And it was black, black, black.

"Stay here."

Sen urged the other humans commandingly as if nothing was wrong. The house shuddered violently as she slipped past the fox and across the threshold. Haku's sick heart surged up into his throat as he watched her go. Suzume pressed in her shadow as his foxfires followed like silent sentinels. Haku could do nothing but follow back into the mouth of madness. Gods above, would this ever end!? And the door snicked shut at his back before any, even he, could mutter a word of protest.

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) Hāfu (ハーフ) is used in Japanese to refer to somebody who is biracial, i.e., ethnically half Japanese. The label emerged in the 1970s in Japan and is now a commonly used label and preferred term of self-definition. It can have a derogatory connotation due to the racial-purity prized by certain groups.


	46. Chapter 46

**SEN**

 _Thump, thump, thump!_

Her heart knocked on the inside of her chest demanding to be let out. Instead her shaking breath hissed over her dry lips as she inched forward. Her pulse throbbed in her ears, in her parted mouth, in the tips of her fingers making her tingle with dread. Inching forward she threw her eyes darted to every dark corner of the close interior. The shadows crawled black and ominous as the thrashing wind invaded the shattered front window, making the curtains billow and snap. All the while the bell in her heart was ringing clamorously pointing out the danger that was painted across the smashed interior in an obvious path of destruction. She gritted her teeth as the ominous premonition made the bell fletching of the arrow clutched in her shaking hand hum in sympathy. Because beneath the surging gale's high keening whistle sent her insides thrilling with terror; through the heavy scent of rain and salt; she could taste the eerie metallic stink of blood. Worse than the smell of blood was the smell of incense; Sen knew the fragrance but she couldn't place it. For some reason the smell scared her stupid making her legs freeze and her knees wobble. But Haku was with her. So was Suzume. That gave her the strength to cut a path through fear and take the lead.

Foxfire illuminated the dark middle halfway as she skulked forward coiled with apprehension. Her eyes grazed over the layered strata of Kai's drawings. Her stomach churned with nausea as she noticed the spatters. Red painted across the pages in blotted spurts. Horrified, Sen threw her eyes aside to escape the bloody drawings only to be confronted by the sight of Amano's bedroom thru the parted sliders. One had popped out of its tracks. Sen froze as she stared at the bloody imprint of a human hand left on its edge.

Beyond the sliders a broad red stain soaked through the disheveled futon within. In the creeping gloom it seemed to get bigger and bigger until she took a step away in utter dread. Sen gasped as she slipped in something wet only to cringe from the blood on the floor. It wove a listing trail of red down the hall to the back door. More handprints plastered the wall. Sen stared at them mutely as terror thrilled up the backs of her arms beading cold sweat on her upper lip; because pressed into the glistening viscous blots of blood were following footprints small and unhurried.

Sen jolted as Suzume pressed beside her craning his long neck to peer over her head. The God froze as he saw. He'd bound half his hacked off hair into a top knot so she saw his face immediately. His gold eyes went perfectly round flashing in the gloom like guttering fire as his brow etched in deep lines of mute horror. Sen jumped again as the fox's frozen hand darted out to seize her arm. As he stared he bleached of color; his hair, his robes, even his face were white, white, white; all except for his charcoal fingers. These tightened until the silk steal plate armor creaked in protest. For a second Sen worried Suzume was going to drag her back down the hall and out of the house. But before she could pull away or protest, Kohaku ghosted by silent as the darting blue foxfires that whizzed overhead. In his hand the flat edge of Lin's sword gleamed as it caught their light. Just as bright was the keen edge of his luminous green eyes.

Whirling after him scowling furiously Suzume opened his mouth to bark. Sen stomped the fox's foot making him startle and bare his teeth in a silent growl. Shushing him with silent fury Sen ignored Suzume's glare and turn her attention back to Kohaku. He paused at the end of the hall to peer around the corner only to shrink as the back door blew open again and slammed into the wall with a jarring jolt. It had been snowing at Onsen but down at sea level in Kumomi it was raining. A vicious wind lashed the house exterior. Water pelted through the open back door diluting the blood into murky puddles of red as it pattered against the age worn filthy linoleum. Then Sen heard the sobbing echoing up the steps from the back yard. It was a woman's voice; Kiri's voice.

The sound sent an electric thrill skittering up her spine making her shudder in alarm. Then the stupid bell in her heart was ringing and ringing and ringing so she could barely think. Coiling on the threshold, Kohaku he waited for another gust of wind to hurl the back door open. Then he launched outside. Stunned by his speed, Sen sprinted after him unconcerned by the blood underfoot, holding her arrow poised to strike the string of her bow. Flooding out onto the slanting rotted boards of the back porch she slammed into Kohaku's back. He lurched to a halt on the top steps throwing out his arm to hold her back. Standing beside him Sen froze as she saw why.

Down beyond the steps a graveyard of motorcycles hidden in the whipping tall grass enclosed by the high tin fence. Bent beneath the stinging curtains of rain; half hidden by the whipping weeds; Kiri was crying hysterically. Even the driving rain couldn't wash away the blood on her face, plastering her oversize white t-shirt to her skinny frame like the raw hide of a gruesome freshly peeled second skin. Then Sen saw Amano through the tall grass. She stared uncomprehending as Kiri cradled his body rocking him back and forth. Kiri's hands were covered with his blood; so was the kitchen knife still clutched in her left hand. The bright blade gleamed red like Kiri's gritted teeth. Somehow an ocean of red had run out of the broken nosed fisherman. He was perfectly still and perfectly white at the heart of the spreading pool. Sen had never seen so much blood. It seemed to fill the muddy puddles in the back yard.

Behind her mask all the air in her lungs left her in a long rattling rasp. She stared and stared unseeing trying to deny this was happening. Amano survived losing Manami to Fate's cruelty. In the aftermath he weathered being shunned by the Kumomi villagers. Mrs. Nikkou and Hidé weren't really gone but their absence affected him. The fisherman never seemed to get a break. He survived a boat fire and the death of a friend scarred for life in many ways. Still, somehow Amano managed to turn his life around and start over with Kiri. But suffering human tragedies hasn't been enough. The fisherman and his family had to contend with the Spirit World. Again by some miracle Amano, Kiri, and Kai survived the Forgotten and the Spider raid. They made it home to Kumomi alive when several Gods hadn't. And finally last night it seemed like their luck was changing. Sen would never forget the look of pure joy on Amano face as Kiri tipped into his arms. Remembering made outrage heave in Sen's chest, making her grind her teeth against sob after sob as she began shaking from head to toe with fury. Because last night he had gotten back the one thing he wanted most: his family. And now he'd lost everything, including his life.

Chihiro would've been screaming. She would've thrown herself down to her knees shrieking and cursing because it wasn't fair. She'd be right. It wasn't right. But Chihiro was gone. And now so was Amano. Sen stood there in the pelting freezing rain pulling in breath after breath as she slowly drifted further and further away. What was left behind galvanized grimly as Sen listened to Kiri wail. All the while misery weighted on her until she could barely breathe; because there was nothing she could do to change this; absolutely nothing. All she could do was endure it.

Sen startled as Kohaku towed her sideways making room as Suzume flowed down into the steps. She flinched from the burning intensity in Kiri's savage gaze as she ceased wailing and stared up at the fox with startling suddenness. White as a drift of snow Suzume moved with slow caution beneath the whizzing blue constellation of foxfires fizzling in the driving sheets of frozen rain. The edge of his hakama stained as it trailed through the muddy pools. Red soaked through the wet white fabric, bleeding up from the hem in spreading stains as he came to stand over her. Suddenly the gyrating foxfires locked into place in a halo of guttering blue light, subdued and still fizzling in the driving rain.

Sen couldn't see the God's face beneath the soggy curtain of his white silk hair, but there was nothing belligerent in the set of his shoulders. All the same panic surged in Sen's gut. Suzume didn't like Kiri. A long time ago the fox rejected Kiri as an heir to the Hakuryo Onsen. While possessed by the Forgotten Kiri accused Suzume of destroying her relationship with Hidé and poisoning Mrs. Nikkou against her. Even though somewhere along their journey they'd come to a truce Sen wasn't sure that Kiri had given up on that hate entirely. Kiri wasn't a bad person, but she was the kind who kept grudges without realizing it.

Never taking her eyes off Suzume, Kiri bent over Amano as if trying to protect him. The posture inspired Sen to simultaneous rage and sorrow. Sen wasn't sure what she intended to do. She didn't get to find out. The iron bar of Kohaku's arm locked around her waist as Suzume spoke.

"Let him go, Ikiri."

As the fox intoned the words in a voice devoid of feeling Kiri's miss-matched eyes as she stared back at him uncomprehending. Her white eye gleamed in the gloom of the storm reflecting the blue light of the glimmering foxfires. Baring her wet bloody teeth Kiri refused, tightening her grip on the body with one hand as she gripped the kitchen knife with the other all the while whispering madly.

"But he's mine…"

Sen's insides crawled with dread at the word favored by Forgotten. Sen blinked as Suzume slowly knelt in the mud in spite of the knife the woman brandished. She blinked again as the God offered his blackened hands with a gentleness that was shocking. His equally soft voice was choked with sadness as he forced out the rest.

"Child, he is gone. You must let him go."

As that slowly began to sink in Kiri's face and she hushed in a whisper nearly lost to the rain.

"She killed him, Suzume… Why d'she kill him…?"

A cold premonition went shivering across her skin as again the bells in her heart and hand thrummed ominously. Suzume stiffened, darting his eyes from side to side as the shadows in the grass suddenly began to crawl and thicken. At once Suzume was on his feet retreating as if unsure of what was happening. Above them the foxfires snarled and surged larger. But the eerie blue light did nothing to dispel the thickening shadows. Sen found herself staring stupidly as Kohaku began pulling on her backwards. She resisted, straining to see the dark that seemed to be spreading through the yard. All the while crushing dread was soaking her through with frozen heavy fear worse than the pelting icy rain as she fought to understand what she was seeing.

Humans couldn't become Forgotten.

But humans could become spirits.

And spirits could become Gods.

All at once her hands were moving of their own accord. They slashed her bell fletched arrow through the rain and struck the waterlogged bowstring. The humming twang reverberating in her chest as it resounded off the tall tin walls of the fence, bounding back in focused waves. The sound seemed to punch Kiri in the face and the blood soaked human toppled over backwards. It flattened Suzume into the tall grass as Kiri scrambled upright and reached for Amano. Sen knocked her backwards with another vicious slap of shrieking bells song that made her very bones buzz. Kiri lurched backwards through the tall grass as Sen pursued her unrelenting seeing the world in eerie tones of electric blue as the foxfires went mad at the sound of the bow.

Sen marched forward through a rain of exploding sapphire embers striking the string of her bow again and again until the bells adorning the fletching were screaming. Twitching and thrashing and flattening a wide swath of grass, Kiri quaked and spasmed as she writhed and arched beneath the deafening sound. Viciously the sound slammed the human down until it pressed her deep into the mud. Fighting to keep her face above the pooling muck that surfaced from the soggy earth Kiri shrieked in panic. Sen didn't hear her. All she could hear was the bells and the roaring raging fire in her chest. It turned yellow-green as the heaving black shadows that writhed in the grass all around them. Transformed by the ringing horror in her head they became Forgotten. Only there weren't any Forgotten in the yard. The fire belonged to her, not to the conflagration that consumed Aburaya. But Sen didn't see that. Shurui's dying words were still ringing inside her head.

 _ **MINE! MINE! MINE!**_

Sourceless rage bloomed in Sen's chest at the word. It fed the crackling fire in the furnace of her heart. Fire surged free, igniting her hands and climbing her bowstring. They sputtered in the rain as bright white light illuminated the yard. Dropping her arrow she reached for the string. All she could see was white flames as she brought it to her chin ready to set Kiri on fire. More bells smashed her to the ground before she could.

They knocked the wind out of her, smothering her fire and leaving her hissing with smoke. Stunned and startled as she foundered in the flattened grass. Sen cringed as the stinging driving curtains of rain flooded through the oculars of her mask. There was mud in her mouth and nose and it burned. She ripped her mask up onto her brow spitting and snorting only to flinch from the silent shadow that dropped over her. A hand flatted on the cracked plate of her chest armor pinning her to the ground as she scrambled for her bow. As she caught the shadow by the wrist ready to set it on fire Sen watched a man's face emerge from beneath a white visage. Blinking and blinking at his incandescent jade eyes it took Sen a moment to recognized Kohaku. His eyes were an agonized storm as he choked on the words. He was scared; scare stupid; scared of her.

"Enough, dear one!" He pleaded hoarsely, "You will kill her!"

A cold crushing hand clenched around her heart as she knew he was right.

Sen would've killed Kiri.

She would've forced Kiri beneath the mud and let her drown.

She would've set Kiri on fire and let her burn into ash.

Sen struggled as mounting horror dawned on her. It revealed the savage hunger of the monster dwelling in the fires of her heart. In a blink Haku hauled her up, dragging her backwards away from Kiri as she surfaced from the puddle coughing and choking and coated from head to toe in mud. Clawing her way out of the shallows Kiri sagged in the flattered grass gasping for air. Suddenly Sen couldn't move as the devastating weight of the human's feral eyes lifted. Kiri had one white eye and one brown eye; but not anymore. Now her eyes were yellow; a fierce yellow ringed in ruby red and slitted vertically like Cinna's. These eyes belonged to an animal or a God, not a human. But the human's predatorial stare looked right through her as if seeing something else entirely.

Somehow Kiri'd managed to find the knife. Sen uttered a startled cry of shock as Kiri brought the bright edge to her neck. But before any of them could do anything; before Kiri could cut her own throat; the thick red bar of scar tissue encircling Kiri's neck burst into eerie green-yellow flames. The point deflected harmlessly cracking off the fire like it was metal. Before she could try again, the knife in her hand burst into flames as well with a sickening sizzle of burning flesh. Forced to drop it, Kiri screeched at the top of her lungs as the collar of fire around her neck hissed and fizzled out. Kiri kept screaming hysterically.

" _Why won't y'just let me die!?"_

Confused and seriously freaked, Sen wasn't sure who Kiri was yelling at now. All the same, Sen rang with knowing. Mrs. Nikkou shot Kiri with an arrow. Kiri died that day for the first time only to come back. Spider venom killed Kiri a second time in the caverns. But again she came back. Kiri should've died in the fire at Aburaya but for some reason she hadn't. The world seemed to lurch as it repeated itself; spinning and spinning like a great big wheel. Sick and dizzy, Sen found herself right back at the beginning again. But the wheel kept turning. It propelled her forward mercilessly. Sen just wanted it to stop. But the wheel didn't. And it propelled Kiri onward like the rest of them as she continued to seethe miserably digging her hands into the mud and tearing up clod after clod of grass.

"Why didn't y'stop her…? Now he's dead an' it's all your fault 'cause you brought us back…"

Gripping her head like it hurt Kiri collapsed face down in the grass still talking to herself. _  
_

"I'm not gonna help you anymore… I can't stop you… But _she_ can…"

Sen's skin crawled at the cold humming power that suddenly welled in Kiri's pronouncement.

"She's gonna make your life a hell... Just like mine..."

With that Kiri sagged as if spent, suddenly still and silent. And Sen stared at a complete loss. Relentlessly the pattering rain beat down on Kiri's singed head and naked arms. The mud ran away in rivulets revealing the blood hidden beneath and then finally her corpse white skin. Panting for breath, bells were ringing in Sen's ears, echoing in silent panic until the inside of her head was pounding with the reverberating peals. The shadows from earlier emerged again from where they hid in the grass. Quivering with anticipation, they surged and struggled to get closer to Kiri, gathering and soaking into the shadows of the tall grass bent over her body in the whipping wind until it seemed like they might swallowed Kiri whole.

But before the gathering dark could reach her they froze as strange characters rose to the surface of Kiri's forearms. All at once they were issuing hissing steam. Still frozen with fright, Sen could only stare at the marks. They lifted like raised welts tightly coiling Kiri's wrists before snaking up her arms in widening spirals to disappear beneath her mud and blood plastered shirt. Sen jerked with a gasp as they ignited like crackling gunpowder, burning in plumes of eerie yellow-green fire. In the same moment Sen's bow and arrow burst into flames. Snapping and writhing with brilliant crackling flashes, the magic embedded in the implements evaporated as the objects reduced to crumbling ash. Then the living flames reached for her.

Fire usually couldn't touch her but she felt the searing heat on her cheeks. It hurt so badly she wanted to scream but she couldn't move as terror flooded her chest! Sen gasped as the ground ripped away beneath her hands leaving her scrambling to catch hold of something solid. Again the frozen world spun as rain whipped her in the face. She scrambled to catch her mask as it slipped on her forehead. Her stomach surged up into her throat, drifting buoyantly only to slam back down with devouring speed as she smashed down onto something solid. Momentarily blinded, it took her a moment to recognize the blue ceramic roof tiles of the Amano's house. Crushing her in the tightening bow of his arms Kohaku sprawled under her quaking tremulously as they slipped down the rain slick tiles. Kicking instinctually Sen caught her heels on the rain gutters bolted to the lip of the even bringing them to a halt before they pitched over the edge. Pinning him to the roof behind her Sen stared back down into the yard and found herself scrambling again.

Kiri lurched upright out of the boiling mud. Vapor rose from Kiri in sheets of steam as more tight coiled of marks appeared around her ankles. They detonated one after the other surging up her legs. Her thin muddy bloody shirt burned into cinders leaving her naked as the burning marks spread. They followed the frail curves of her hips and rejoin at the base of her spine. She continued to thrash as the scorching sigils climbed her bare skin; forking to meet the lines of fire climbing her arms; forking again to etch her back with the smoldering design of wings. More fire coiled Kiri's neck until she wore a sizzling collar of glowing green-yellow flames. Kiri arched in the broiling puddle as the living blaze climbed the back of her neck and wormed up her singed head. It settled on the middle of her forehead in a third eye that licked her twisted brow with a long writhing tongue of sparking sputtering fire.

Sen jerked as brilliant foxfires erupted in the yard. Shivering blue godlight momentarily overshadowed the eerie viridian flames. Color flooded across Suzume's whitewashed robes as the fox righted out of the grass. Churning sapphire flames climbed from the hem of his blood stained hakama in rolling twists that caught the ragged edge of his top knot. It turned it black as if burning it to match his charcoal hands. Suzume's voice cracked just as loud as the thunder.

"God-not-of-this-land, you are unwelcome!"

Kuromi's spider silk flute was clutched in his fingers and Suzume pointed it like a blade.

"This human child is mine! Release her at once!"

Kiri, and the thing inside her, didn't answer. It didn't even seem to hear. As if suffering terrible pain Kiri gripped the bar of fire clamped around her neck. She bent only to throw back her head and scream. It wasn't a human voice that ripped from her throat. It was the piercing shriek of an eagle. Sen slapped her hands over her ears as the terrible sound seemed to flatten her to the roof tiles. Suzume dropped to one knee clamping his hands to his ears similarly. As Kiri screamed wings fletched with gold-green fire ripped up from her back. In a blinding flash they haloed her head in swirling winking emerald embers. When they beat down the world burst into flames. Even the dirt burned.

Suzume cried out as he burst into hideous viridian flames. His flute crumbled to ash. Sen gaped as bells surged and clanged in her ears. They were ringing louder and louder until it felt like her skull was going to split in two. Out of the storm of pain a circle of polished silver surfaced like the moon in the back of her head. Sen froze as fragments of the visions from Sengen's mirror returned in stabbing flashes cutting across the inside of her head. Again she knew without knowing. Sen knew how Kiri survived the fire at Aburaya. All at once the visions cleared and Sen was staring at Kiri's hands. Staring and staring, because they didn't belong to Kiri anymore. They were Garuda's hands now.

Again the wheel came full circle and Sen was back at the beginning. Nothing was done. Nothing was finished. Her raw shriek of dread was swallowed as a snarling clap of thunder sounded directly over their heads so violently everything shook. Working her fire-fletched wings Kiri launched into the air and shot above like a bolt of reversed lightening. More viridian lightning surged and flashed, returning in her wake crackling and fizzling so close Sen felt it sizzle on her face. Every humming hair on her body stood on end as the electric bolt smashed through the roof of the shed at the back of the yard. The impact flattened Suzume onto the ground as the walls blew out of the rickety structure, scattering bits of motorcycles and whirling sheets of melting corrugated aluminum. Fire ignited and plumed inside like a great welling red geyser. Still flattened against the roof Sen stared up at the black boiling storm as the clouds in the sky above began swirling and whirling.

Day became night as the sinking squall robbed the world of light.

Another bolt of lightning smashed onto the roof beside her.

Then everything blotted out into fizzling crackling bright.

* * *

 **HAKU**

Dazed and dizzy he tried to sit up in the grass and failed. Haku did not remember falling from the roof. His skin hummed with unnerving electric prickles and the very air seemed to vibrate with the same charge that had sent a bolt of lightning smashing through the roof beside him. His hair stood up from his head in a crackling halo. Finally he managed to sit up and noted numbly that it had stopped raining. Seconds stretched on into minutes but still he sat staring. He should have been scanning the skies for wings of fire should the God-not-of-this-land return to attack. He should have been scrambling up to put out the spreading blaze igniting the shattered house at his back. But he did not. His eyes remained fixed on the human laying still and low illuminated by the fires in the wind whipped tall grass.

Lurching upright Haku staggered over only to fold forward on his knees as they failed. Sitting there in a pool of blood and mud all he could see was the red on the dour frown of Kubi's alabaster mask. It bloomed from the hole in her chest in a vast crimson flower that stained the granite beneath her back just as red spread across the thin wet membrane of white cloth that was the human's shirt. Suddenly Haku dug his fingers into the ground pulling the weeds clutched between his fingers until they ripped up by the roots. Then he screamed. He keened his enraged grief at the sky until his voice shredded. But the sound was swallowed entirely by another booming clap of thunder that reverberated deep in the cavernous hollow that had been his heart. Because Amano Tetsuo was dead; so was Kubi; and so too was Karsu. Sagging onto his hands Haku would have collapsed had Suzume not spoken. His quiet rasp was almost lost in the howling wind.

"Nigihayami, you and I will grieve together… But not now…"

Startled, Haku jerked back onto his knees and caught sight of the fox in the tall grass. Suzume was seated in the weeds badly burned and bleeding. As they continued to stare at each other wordlessly Haku saw the tight lines of grief etched across the God's face. Suzume's gold eyes burned with rage and sorrow Haku found all too familiar. Seeing it there threatened his hastily cobbled composure. He quailed as again thunder boomed and jade lightning sizzled over heads making his teeth and bones rattle. Now fear was stronger than grief. Haku glanced back at the brittle God for a long moment and knew at once that the fox could not stand. But the God waved off his concern impatiently.

"Enough!" The fox choked in a dry rasp. "I will live."

At once Haku was searching the yard scrambling in a panic.

"Sen?"

The fox pointed a singed finger that looked like a burned stick.

"There."

She was laid out in the weeds not far from where he had fallen little more than a flash of blue and red in the tall reeds. Hanoane was a mirror's glint in the grass beside her. The ache in his ankle was almost unbearable as he struggled upright only to fall with a cry. Haku was forced to scramble on hands and knees through the wet tall grass to her side. The worry churning wind out of his chest settled as he found her unconscious but mostly unharmed. He tilted the phoenix mask back onto her brow only to see she bore similar scorches as he and the fox. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were gone. That the green fire had burned her at all set another anxious wind billowing from him. Haku startled as the fox threw a clod of mud to get his attention.

"Go!" Suzume wheezed belligerently, "Find Ikiri and bring her down!"

Haku balked at the madness of such a request protesting instantly.

"I am no God, Suzume-san! I cannot face that thing!"

Haku looked up in surprise as Suzume threw more mud. He fumed but had no voice. Fighting to find it the fox gripped his neck and his face twisted with the pain it cost him to speak.

"You are swifter and more cunning than any being I know! Only you can give her chase! I know you will think of a way! _Now go and find her before she kills anyone else!_ "

The last of the fox's words set his insides cold with dread. Gritting his teeth, Haku fought the urge to argue that fear inspired in him. But Suzume was correct. Haku was the only one who could give chase. He, however, could not fly blindly. He was nothing against the demon without strategy. Already the wheels in his head were turning and Haku pointed his eyes to the south in distraction. Forcing himself to stand even as his ankle burned and threatened to buckle, Haku snatched up Hanoane and gritted his teeth against a similar pain that flared in his once shattered wrist. Then he spared a glance at Sen. His eyes lingered long on the parted bow of her heat parched lips. Strangely he was seized with the longing to kiss them though no doubt it would hurt.

Oh, she would be so very angry at him for leaving her. But as he could not follow Sen into the furnace, now she could not follow him into the sky. At once Haku swept his eyes over the black, black clouds. That thing was somewhere up there. Not knowing where set an electric shock of panic surging through his blood. Straightening his mask over his face Haku snatched his compass from the invisible hem of his tatter cloak and addressed the spinning needle within the beaten brass case. Quickly it swung to the east and his insides thrilled with dour premonition. Once more, but numbly now, Haku glanced at the body in the tall grass. As he stared where there had been grief now there was only bitter, bitter fury.

Before the voiceless fox could wheeze at him more; before Sen could wake and refuse; wind surged in his boiling blood. Haku rose from the ground as singing thrilling weightlessness unfolded in his gut shoving his heart straight into his mouth. He could not hear his pounding heart over the wind even as it throbbed in his ears. Searing cold stung his eyes as he found his course with increasing speed. The human structures and roads fell away becoming small and unreal. Anxious pricks and prickles gnawed at his insides as the sudden height made him nauseous and afraid. Fear robbed him of flight forcing him to fly low. But he felt no joy as he mastered the baseless worries. They fell away like scales as he lifted higher and higher returning to the empty air cutting and cutting his way through the buffeting mistrals like a subtle knife.

On the edge of town Haku banked hard through the stunning slap of icy rain. The thin slip of beach yanked by below replaced by undulating ribbons of frothing white-caps churned by below. He wheeled again directly over the twin rocks in the middle of the harbor. Crashing plumes of wave beat against the larger stone, spraying the gleaming red tori gate. Then shrieking wind detonated at his feet, speed thrummed in his blood, and he shot forward. Haku glimpsed a flash of blue amongst the waving naked forest clustered along the steep mountain slopes at the east edge of town.

Again the ground loomed larger and larger. The rising treetops thrashed beneath his body waving menacingly as if reaching up to catch hold of them. Between their bowing trunks Haku caught sight of the shrine's empty parking lot and then the shallow blue gable of the living quarters where the kannushi made their home. Behind them, tucked into the deepening forest, rose the steep roof of the main shrine. The sapphire tiles gleamed like a frozen wave trapped on land by some ancient spell cast by Sengen herself. Unnerved by the sight and finally ready to leave the ground behind, Haku skirted the tall wall of pines and cedars, climbing the mountain behind the shrine as the living quarters whisked away below. As he soared above the tree tops he caught a thermal rising off the steep cliffs at the very apex of the mountain. Ghosting over the tiny shrine at the top of the hill, Haku left behind the ground and rocketed up into the churning black clouds that filled the endless heaven above.

At a height the turbulence became awesome amidst the streaking dusty spray of the living clouds. But Haku rode the rough air with deft skill. Even as from time to time the supporting draft dropped out from under him making him plunge, he ducked and swooped with ease, maintaining both course and altitude. He surprised even himself given that he had all but given up on the sky entirely. But the wind knew its kind and it accepted him without objection. All fear forgotten Haku let himself become the wind once more.

Unfortunately the seeking curious invisible fingers of his siblings tore tears from his eyes nearly blinding him as he made his way. Not that he could see anything but mist inside the cloud. It was nearly impossible to read the fogged dial of his compass as he forced himself faster and faster through the whipping gales. He would need to procure a pair of goggles and a better suit for flying. His armor offered no protection against the thieving wind and already his teeth were chattering. Furthermore, all the ties and clips on his armor caught on the wind making him drag and buck causing him to nervously clutch Hanoane's hilt for fear she would tear away and be lost.

After what could have been minutes or hours all at once the billowing curtain of mist broke. Haku shot out between the divided layers of the massive column of cloud. Curtains and ribbons of blue gray vapor churned all around him rising and rippling as competing tributaries of speeding wind poured across each other in interweaving invisible rivers of coursing air. Finding one that enjoyed his direction Haku rode its face and catapulted forward on a swelling increase of speed. Through breaks in the clouds he could see the distant face of the angry slate green sea far below. It broke against the beige flashes of limestone cliffs in gossamer plumes of white. Almost as if by fate, directly below him was a familiar perfect circle of smoother blue-green water. Haku immediately recognized the pale sands of the crescent beach and the wide sloping valley behind that was the site of the old Kumomi village.

A strange lick of encouragement kindled in his chest sending him drifting higher. But it extinguished instantly as a roll of thunder rocked across the sky. Haku cringed from another singing flash of viridian lightning. Throwing his gaze out over the sea he caught a glint of light in the black heart of the storm front. He sank unconsciously as dread surged into his throat making his mind go blank. Foundering inside a ribbon of cloud Haku righted himself and broke free of the mist, tucking away his compass. He tracked the flaming wink of the demon's course from afar keeping himself half hidden in the cusp of a cloud. The God-not-of-this-land was moving slowly and with difficulty at odds with the power of its earlier departure. Again panic surged into his throat and he sank as he struggled to come up with some way to take the strange God from the sky. Yes he was swift, but what of the lightning it had unleashed earlier? His arrows would do little more than wound it even if he guided the bolts to their mark with the aid of a well-placed gust. Even still, in doing so he would give away the only advantage he had: surprise.

But as he continued to founder in and out of the tributaries of mist a sudden flash of intuition shot him aloft into the heart of the cloud. Osprey roosted along the shore. These sea hawks hunted other birds from great heights. With stunning speed they dropped on their prey from above without sound. The elation of his momentary inspiration dissipated like the cloud beside him sending him darting to find another ribbon of mist in which to conceal himself. What then? Haku fretted. What would he do once he had captured his prey? Slit its throat? If he killed the thing he would also end Ikiri's life. Could he take down this demon without ending his life and also hers?

Slowly the bay of old Kumomi was drifting away and Haku's insides constricted with dread. But then a pluming veil of white caught his eye below. It inspired another bright glint of inspiration. Fire could not stand against water. The cursed could not stand against salt. Had not they drowned the Forgotten out of Chihiro by way of the sea? The ocean, however, could not abide by him. With a thrill of horror Haku remembered how it had nearly drowned him. Staring down at the distant face of the rippling ocean his insides coiled tighter and tighter with consternation. He could not trust that the Harbor God would appear to help him again.

Then, with the terrible drop yawning below him, for a bitter moment Haku wondered why he should risk his life for Ikiri. It was a terrible selfish thought from which he surfaced immediately burning with shame. That was the way Yubaba's apprentice used to think: only of himself and for his own benefit. Ikiri, in spite of all her bad luck and failings, was one of theirs. Even Suzume, who once could not stand the female, had claimed Ikiri as his. Had Haku not promised Amano that he would see her home safely? All the air left his lungs as he fell like a stone. For a moment he had forgotten. Again in his mind's eye he saw the flash of red in the wet tall grass and on cold granite. And as he flew he turned cold. But it was not the wind that robbed him of all warmth this time.

Tears of a different kind coursed across his cheeks as Haku ground his teeth against enraged sorrow, forcing himself out of the plunge and back into the sky, propelling himself faster and faster lest he fall like a stone again under the terrible thoughts weighing his mind. Ikiri loved Amano. He had witness the truth of their affection last night. Sen would never raise a hand against him willingly. Why then should he accuse Ikiri of such a thing? There had to be another explanation. Dourly Haku admitted to himself that in his heart he had known something to be wrong with Ikiri when he found her on the ruined bridge before Aburaya's burning hull. Why had he not voiced his suspicious!? Why had he been such a coward?! Had he done something perhaps Amano would still be alive!

Still railing against himself Haku jack-knifed mid-air. Fueled by a new determination he hurtled straight up, up, and up until the very air thinned in his lungs. The clouds were thin wisps here and he could barely breathe. Bright burning blue domed away into nothing in all directions and the white hot sun bore down like an all-seeing-eye, searing the burned and cracked skin beneath his mask. It was so bitter cold that ice began to crust his armor, stinging his eyes as his tears froze on his cheeks. Ignoring the aching tightening burn in his too small chest Haku arched sideways peering with sharp eyes down between the breaks in the blankets of cloud. Until through the surging rivers of mist he saw a flash of glimmering gold green. All at once the world came to utter stillness as he gazed down at the winking light. For a moment he hovered there coiling ever shred of his strength at his back. Then, like an arrow from a bow, he plunged from above like a deadly bolt.

Gravity towed on him eagerly, hurtling him downward faster and faster as his stomach surged and swam up into his throat flipping over and over giddily. The wind screamed in his ears as he fell. Even as he forced his eyes closed to the barest slits Haku never took his sight from his prey. It was startling how quickly he came upon the God-not-of-this-land. Haku was more than startled as he smashed between the furling green gold wings of fire and collided with the brittle human body between. The stunning crack of the impact momentarily robbed him of sight and sound. Lost in an overwhelming flash of consuming pain he almost lost purchase on Ikiri. But as his senses returned he realized they were falling, spiraling wildly so that he lost track of all direction. Grappling with Ikiri's slack body Haku seized the female by the waist just as they dropped out of the storm clouds into empty air. Shock and terror shrilled in Haku's very blood and bone as the unyielding face of the boiling green gray sea folded open below. It spread like an undulating flag of rough teal silk that furled on and on and on into forever. Then Ikiri jerked in his grip. The strange God inside her set loose the same deafening screech from earlier. And she burst into a conflagration of green-yellow flames.

Haku screamed in agony as the fire coursed around him gnawing viciously. But even as he burned he did not let go. Together they shattered the surface of the waves and plunged into the icy effervescent deep. Even then he did not let go, not even as the thing clawed at him all the while thrashing in a panic. Down beneath the pitching surface he towed Ikiri; pulling her deeper into gurgling crushing blue; down into the murky swirling dark until they hit the rocky bottom. But even as it fought to be free of his grip, the thing inside Ikiri foundered.

Haku caught it by the foot easily, anchoring it to the bottom as he caught the jagged edge of a submerged rock. As he had hoped the strange God was powerless here. Unfortunately so was he. These waters belonged to Sengen and they would not have him. The salt stung his eyes. He could barely see anything in the murky indigo dark. The coursing undercurrents did not obey or succor him; they tore at his body mercilessly; gurgling sullenly and trying to drag him sideways into the crushing black. His lungs began to burn and heave in protest, demanding air as his head squeezed in a vice of agony that made his narrowing sight go gray. Then a powerful surging current flooded around him. It ripped him from the rock towing him sideways in a spiraling curl. Salt invaded his mouth, rushing into his throat and nose as if trying to swallow him.

In a terrible bright moment of stunning clarity Haku realized he was drowning.

Here, amidst his element he teetered on the edge of death.

Only then was he was finally forced to let go of Ikiri.


	47. Chapter 47

**SEN**

When she opened her eyes Sen thought for a moment that it was snowing. Big white fluffy flakes were floating down from the black cloud choked sky. But as they alighted on her face they caked her cheeks instead of melting. Confused, she blinked as one got in her eye. It stung painfully, making her realize it wasn't snow. Ash; it was ash.

All at once she saw the fire. Out of nowhere it breathed up at her feet as its acrid wind made the tall grass scramble all around the yard. Snapping with chittering cracks it bloomed higher and higher over her head in dancing petals of flickering heat. It billowed out of the charred hollow eyes in the eroding black windows shooting up through the gaping hole in the blue tiled roof. The bronze fittings and the shattered panes of glass began to melt a glow red. Day became night as the billowing black cloud of smoke blotted out the sky. But it wasn't her fire. It wasn't God fire either. It was human fire, red-yellow and voraciously hungry.

Strangely she couldn't feel the heat. This fire couldn't touch her; it wasn't like the green-gold. Sen flinched as somewhere in the conflagrations heart a brilliant burst of white crackled. The fizzling pop made her jump. As she stared up at the conflagration all she could see was Aburaya's burning bulk. But still she couldn't hear the roar. Her ears were ringing and ringing until her entire body was vibrating with a numbing ache; because the fire wasn't destroying Aburaya; it was consuming Amano's house. Lost in shock Sen didn't resist as hands seized her dragging her backwards from the crumbling eaves seconds before the roof collapsed into the yard. It wasn't until Suzume collapsed behind her in the wet grass that Sen began resisting; because she hadn't expected it to be Suzume. Already her eyes were darting around the burned backyard looking for Kohaku.

But he wasn't there. He just wasn't there.

Up and up and up her heart pitched into her throat until her mouth was full of a raw stab of icy panic that made her gag. Sen tried to get up only to have her arm yank taut. Suzume's hand was locked around her wrist. Crashing back down into the mud beside the fox she came up short at the sight of him. Laid out in the tangled weeds beneath the singed cloud of his ashy hair Suzume looked like a piece of spent firewood. He smelled even worse. Her stomach gave a violent kick at the sickeningly sweet stink of burned flesh and charred hair. The fox had been closest to Kiri. He'd caught the brunt of the green fire. It was only then that she realized she was badly burned too. Someone had pushed her mask up onto her forehead. Her exposed face felt cool with pain and too tight as it smarted in cracking lines of twinging hurt. She could taste blood in her mouth as she licked her dry lips. The flavor of salty metal made her sicker than sick as it conjured things she'd seen in Sengen's mirror.

Folding up beside the fox Sen trembled as Chihiro's ghost rose within her. Suddenly she felt 11 years old again fading to nothing in the dark because the green-gold fire burned her. It had burned Mrs. Nikkou's bow and arrow too. Suddenly she was scared stupid as the horrible emerald flames crawled through her head. All she could see were Kiri's hands. Squeezing her eyes shut on the sight she pressed her face into the reeds. But this wasn't a dream. She was never going to wake up. Then Suzume wheezed words she could barely hear over the roaring fire and distant sirens. Even his voice was charred, dry like the scraping of charcoal rattling about in a paper bag.

"Child… Go after Kohaku…"

The God rasped as if every word cost him. Forcing herself to open her eyes Sen stared sideways at the fox. His gold eyes reflected the writhing fire at her back like polished bronze mirrors. He was pointing a finger that looked like a burned twig up to the sky. Even the clouds looked like they'd been burned. They were low and black-gray like ashes. She stared stupidly until Suzume barked again hoarsely.

"Go…! Find him…!"

Sen lurched upright spurred on by the urgency in his parting command. Half blind and moving on instinct alone Sen put her back to the flames and ran. Not knowing what she was doing or where she was going Sen smashed against the brittle fence and wriggled her way through a gap in the boards. Her armor caught making her jerk and struggle frantically until she pulled free and dumped out into the narrow weed-choked side yard. Forcing her way through the thicket she clambered over the remains of a moss covered foundation and staggered through the empty lot beyond. Then she was out onto the empty muddy gravel street. For a second she stared out over Kumomi Village momentarily startled by the sight of the human world. It didn't seem real; not the buildings or the cars or the roads. They frightened her somehow. Sen turned her back on them running and running until she crashed against the railing of the sea wall across the street.

As she panted there hanging on the frozen steel rail Sen could hear the distant shouts and screams of humans. She could see the glint of the flames in the puddles and feel the ominous crackle of the fire at her back. But she didn't look. Instead she found herself gaping up at the sky in an utter loss. Her heart sank like a frozen stone as her chest squeezed and squeezed until she could barely get any air into her lungs; because there was no way she could follow him. Not if he'd taken to the sky.

Such a crippling crushing sense of helplessness washed over her she nearly collapsed onto her trembling knees. How was she supposed to find him?! She had no idea where he had gone! Sick with despair Sen realized she was stuck. It wasn't like she could pull a motorcycle out of her pocket. She didn't have a magic compass or umbrella either. All that was left in her geihobako was a creepy skull, some pointy beads on a string, Suzume's brush, a single sheet of paper, the suzu, and Sengen's mirror!

Here her insides went cold. Flashes of blinding light momentarily robbed her of sight as it occurred to her. She could use the mirror again. With shaking hands she reached deeply into her pocket. As she withdrew her hand it prickled with apprehension because in her fingers she held the silk muffled disc of silver. Leaning away from it Sen gritted her teeth in loathing. Hidé had given it to her, but there was no guarantee that the mirror would show her want she wanted. The thing had a mind of its own. But she didn't have time to hesitate. Taking a deep shuddering breath she uncovered the mirror's surface and looked. As always for a moment nothing happened. She stared at her reflection with tightly coiled apprehension. Apparently Sengen's attention was elsewhere for no vindictive blue eyes waited for her there. Then the angling the mirror caught the light and the reflecting bright shattered into a thousand shards. Sen gasped as they filled her head with blinding ripping shredding agony. Before they could tear her to pieces she commanded them in a thin gasp.

" _Show me where he is!"_

The shards danced defiantly like swirling cutting snowflakes. But she ensnared them with the force of her will commanding them to coalesce. Her head throbbed as she fitted the pricks of light together one by one. Until in a blinding flash she was standing on the familiar beach of the old Kumomi bay. Sen staggered; reeling down the steep bank as her breath plumed in a white cloud. Strangely she couldn't hear anything even as the waves crashed at her feet. Singing wind chapped her face as the frozen churning water tugged on her calves. Overhead the sky was devoid of clouds and spangled with a thicket of stars. But all was eerily silent, making her insides thrill and crawl with dread.

It took her a moment to see them. Sen gasped soundlessly whirling to find ghosts at her back. They stood like shadows in the trees barely visible in the gray sourceless light. But their eyes gleamed like diamonds in the gloom. Amano was smoking but not because he had fitted a cigarette to corner of his mouth. The dead fisherman was blackened and charred so badly she barely recognized him. Not that he seemed to care because beside him stood Manami. She was soaked with water and bits of seaweed still clung to her perfectly white face. Her lips were blue as she frowned so very sadly. Sen's insides squeezed painfully as she realized they were holding hands. Then they pointed in unison at the sky. Sen whirled as in a blinding flash exploded above the cliffs. A shooting star dropped from above and crashed into the distant sea. Then the sight dissolved as the shards of light shattered pulling the world around her apart.

Sen surfaced from the vision and almost dropped the mirror as she lurched backwards. Even though she didn't understand half of what it showed at least she knew where to go. A brief punch of elation made her legs go weak because the mirror had obeyed her. Scrambling to muffle up the disc and shove it back into her pocket she sagged on the frozen metal rail. Hanging there her stricken gaze dropped down, down, down the stomach-flipping height into the deep churning waves of the harbor below.

There wasn't much of a beach in Kumomi. Most of the bay was sheer sea cliff. The narrow lip of rocks at the base of the wall had eroded perfectly smooth dyed black from algae and endless salt. The tide was in and she followed as it receded out into Kumomi bay. The deep fizzing water swirled in an undulating plate of deep opaque gray green encircled by broken arms of beige limestone. A stiff salted wind hit her cracked face like a sullen slap making her flinch. And all in a rush, like the crashing hiss of the waves below, Sen realized she didn't need to fly to get to the Old village. As if drawn by a flare her eyes shot across the cove to the twin rocks on the edge of the sea. She could just make out the cross bar of the red tori on the larger sea stack. Big cow and little cow: that's what Hidé called them.

Sirens screamed closer and closer at her back as she forced herself to swing her legs up over the rail. Her body protested but she drove it on with iron determination. From the corner of her eyes Sen caught the glint of blue, red, and white electric flashes as emergency vehicles from Matsuzaki Bay tore around the corner of the road perched high on the rocks. Ignoring them Sen struggled to maintain control as her knees turned to rubber beyond the protection of the rail. The tight burned skin on her knuckles split in painful pops as she clung tighter to the banister. All at once her entire body was shaking. Chihiro loved the ocean; but not Sen. The sea scared her stupid because it belonged to Sengen.

Water wasn't her element. It didn't come easily the way fire did. She'd only mastered the element a handful of few times and always with Kohaku's help. Only once had she ever been able to sway salt water. Back in the Uguisudani Caves Hidé had poured a vast inland sea through Sengen's mirror. It'd taken all Chihiro's strength just to get it to move in one direction. But hadn't Hidé given her power over the sea in that moment? With a shudder Sen remember he frozen kiss he'd planted on her forehead. Encouraged by her success with the mirror Sen took a deep breath. Then she shouted at the waves commandingly doing her best impression of Suzume.

"Take me to the old bay!"

But her voice cracked and quavered uncertainly betraying her to the harbor. Sen's heart sank again as surf ignored her completely. It rolled away in a hissing heedless fizzle almost like it was laughing. Fury ignited in the furnace of her heart as she spared a hand to point at the water.

" _Hey!_ I'm talking to you so listen! Take me to the old bay right now!"

As Sen barked in a thunderous voice she could feel the eerie gnawing prickle of magic surging in her boiling blood. It seemed to shoot out of her pointing finger like an arrow from a bow. She blinked and blinked in surprise as the water below shuddered only to go eerily still. Slowly a whirlpool formed at the base of the sea wall. The retreating currents abruptly redirected and returned in a rush; breaking on the smooth rocks below in a low thump she felt physically deep in her chest; flooding up the cliff with the sharp green breath of the sea blowing ahead of it in a cloud of hissing sizzling spray. Sen heaved back against the bar only to find herself petrified with terror as a massive upsurge of translucent turquoise water spouted up into the sky high over the lip sea wall. The crest of a wave curled over her head like the fingers of a closing fist.

The reaching wave caught her, smashing her against the ground as it broke over the lip of the sea wall. Explosions of brilliant white pain blinded her as she was swallowed in the shockingly cold effervescent flood. There was nothing she could do as the powerful current receded dragging her with it. All the air rushed from her lungs into a sputtering spout of bubbles as her armored back smacked against the railing. But the iron bars offered her no help. Tumbling sideways up and over the banister in the tow of the relentless salt water the harbor wave swept her out to sea.

Spinning and spinning giddily it burbled and gurgled in her ears almost angrily as if bitching her out for inconveniencing them. The thieving currents yanked on her mask, kerchief, and clothes as if trying to strip her naked. Clinging to her phoenix face and foundering uselessly Sen choked on the salt water. Then her body slammed down pressed deeper and deeper into thick eroding sand. Still the water pulled her sideways, peeling her out of the muck, shoving her onward as she tumbled like a piece of flotsam. But as she went the power of the sea currents dwindled to the point where Sen was finally able to wrench herself free. Up she forced herself with every last shred of strength only to instantly break the surface.

Shocked by the touch of air she found the spreading water was only waist deep. Hissing jets poured out of her armor as she thrashed in the shallows fighting the heavy weight of her water-logged gear to heave in a deep rattling sobbing breath. Coughing and sputtering, Sen tried to get the water out of her lungs and the gritty sand out of her mouth. Shoving her mask up on her brow she swept at her stinging eyes grinding her teeth as placid swells lapped by only to invade every nook inside her armor with more heavy pulling water. Then frozen hands closed over her shoulders pulling her like the waves. Sen punched hard with her fist only to have her knuckles smash against unyielding stone. Pain lanced up her arm as she squawked in pain. Still she fought, splashing in the water trying to pull away.

"Whoa! Whoa! It's me, boss! It's just me!"

It took her a second to recognize the voice. Blinking and blinking to clear her salt-blurred eyes Sen stared up at God. Naked from the waist up; powerfully muscled as if he still hauled nets all day; his mother-of-pearl skin showed in the dim daylight like the opalescent flash of a shell. All around her the winking flash of his sapphire blue hakama undulated beneath the water's surface in a living garment of scales. Water plastered the short cropped fringe of his inky hair to his worry-twisted brow. Sen found herself staring at it realizing it always stayed the same never changing from the style he'd worn when he was still a human. Finally he forced her to look into his eyes. Incandescent azure pools endlessly deep and full of mystery; they could've been the sea. They scared her a little; because Sengen has the exact same eyes.

Sen shuddered violently, tearing her gaze away, raking them across the familiar surroundings. Behind them she caught the familiar break in the tall limestone cliffs that led out to sea. But there were no shrilling calls of gulls. The boiling black sky was low and ominously heavy with an approaching storm, eerily silent save for the anxious hush of the unyielding wind coursing over the cliffs. Lifting higher and higher the bluffs gained a carpet of scraggily wind-bald cypress as they rounded the bowl of the smooth hidden bay. At her back the whispering surf fizzled up against the sharply sloped narrow crescent beach only to return hissing after a moment of eerie silence. Beyond their reach was a dense tangle of green forest woven from leaning pines, winter bare maples, and knocking bamboo. Beneath them hid the heaped mossy ruins of the ancient original site of Kumomi Village. In stunned amazement Sen realized the waves had obeyed. As her knees dissolved like sea foam she sank onto her heels in the shallows.

"Hidé!" Sen wheezed in wild relief, "Hidé!"

Hidé sank with her giving her a shake that was meant to be gentle. His frozen hands burned against her upper arms even through her steel silk armor. All the same she shook from head to toe as it struck by the waves she could hear booming on the limestone cliffs.

"What _t'hell_ , boss! How d'you get here!?"

She gestured meaninglessly still floundering and spinning inside her head.

"A wave…"

Sen locked her hands around his wrists still fighting to find words. But there was so much bottled up inside her she couldn't voice any of it. Her entire body began to steam in frustration as she struggled and choked on every uselessly silent breath. But Hidé was a God and intuition brought to him a prescient flash that made his eyes go wide with dread.

"Something's wrong!?"

Hidé choked in a rush as another spreading wave hissed around them. Sen's hands tightened and tightened but Hidé never flinched. Then the most terrible truth fell from her lips. It was almost like someone else had spoken the words. Even as she heard them Sen didn't want to believe they were real.

"Amano's dead!"

Suddenly the world went silent. Startled and unnerved she cast about only to realize the entire bay had gone perfectly still. Even the waves half sprawled up the face of the shore had frozen in place. Her skin crawled at the unnatural sight as a lick of fear set the coals in the furnace of her heart guttering. Looking up at the Harbor God Sen went absolutely still at his stricken expression. She watched the slow horror surface in his uncanny blue eyes as Hidé's face went blank with shock that was entirely human.

"Dead…?"

Hidé breathed incredulously as he sank back onto his heels staring through her unseeing. Sen understood only too well. Just because he was a God didn't mean he was all knowing or all powerful. Just because she could see glimpses of the future didn't mean she could see everything. And just because she could see didn't mean she could change anything. Neither of them would've seen the distant meteor plunge from the clouds over the ocean. But then it burst into brilliant flash of blinding yellow-green flames. Sen and Hidé turned toward it in astonishment as it momentarily lit up the brooding sky. Then it dropped out of sight behind the cliffs and plunged into the sea beyond. Sen surged to her feet working her mouth soundlessly as she pointed. Inside her heart the bell was ringing and ringing and ringing. But before she could do or say anything a wave smashed into her chest. Momentarily she was submerged in another gurgling twirling deluge. And when she rolled back to her knees and broke the surface the Harbor God was gone.

* * *

 **LIN**

As Natsumi flipped her apron Lin turned away light with elation feeling like she might float up off the floor she climbed the stairs clinging to the banister. Shuffling back to her room Lin didn't remember opening the door. Already reclined on the cushions Suzume smirked in the quiet dark interior as she stretched out beside him. Makoto and Kokoro twitched as they slept soundly in their father's arms tightly swaddled in their spider silk wraps. Fumiko's gift served her children still.

With strange detachment Lin thought of the handmaiden spider. The removement transformed to worry as she hoped the spider was well. Envious of her babies Lin made a pillow out of his knee snuggling her nose into the soft silk of his robes breathing in the sweet spicy scent of camphor that always clung to him. Finally free of her contract Lin found herself almost afraid of the stunning silence inside her head where there had always been the insistent urge to work. Distantly she worried about getting fat and lazy until Suzume began humming softly. Screwing her eyes shut Lin heaved a heavy contented sigh as she sagged beside him groping blindly to pull a quilt over her shoulders. Listening to the mellow golden melody of his voice Lin slipped off into sleep.

She dreamed fitfully finding herself trudging through swirling snow and whispering wind. Glaring through the tangling thicket of her hair Lin stared up at familiar mountains of Ezo. Annoyed that the winter of her past kept following in her, Lin spat at the ice sullenly. Then it cracked beneath her feet making her lurch unsteadily. She gasped and scrambled only to scream as it buckled and dropped away beneath her. But she fell on soft quilted cushions. Still half asleep Lin sprawled sideways rolling to the tips of her toes crouched with instinct crackling in every muscle of the limbs that remained to her. Shaking with restraint; ready to fight or flee or do whatever was necessary; her hand flattered on her obi and the knife hidden within. Looking up at her husband Lin's chest contracted with a cold stab of panic as he stood cradling the kits in his arms bleached of all color staring through the wall seeing something she couldn't. The kits were mewling fitfully as frightened by their father's sudden disquiet.

"What is it!?" Lin demanded in a hoarse gasp.

Scrambling with panic Lin was forced to sit as the fox hurriedly handed over the kits. She couldn't refuse, hastily folding her knees so she could cradle Makoto and Kokoro in her lap. Lin caught Suzume's sleeve pulling on him so forcefully she dragged him down to one knee beside her as he bolted for the door.

"Tell me what's happening!"

Suzume turned his pale face to stare at her miserably from the corners of his eyes.

"I… I do not know! But the child calls me!"

Lin rocked backwards as she realized he was talking about Sen. Suddenly the sleeve was gone from her hand. The slider rocked off the adjacent wall skittering backwards in its tracks. Stunned and startled, Lin realized her husband was gone.

"Suzume!" Lin shouted after him furiously, "Suzume!"

Stupid, stupid, stupid fox! Growling beneath her breath Lin looped the slings around her neck as Makoto and Kokoro began to cry. Silently Lin cursed at her husband as she shot to her feet and gave chase. Once he had been the one who pursued her now it seemed she was always running after him. She had just gotten home! She had just gotten him back! Hurtling across the sitting room outside her door; sprinting through the open slider on the adjacent wall; Lin charged across the raised covered walkway feeling the springy boards bow and buckle beneath her feet. But she foundered momentarily as sunlight poured over the eve blinding her with bitter cold bare sky. Blinking rapidly behind her only hand Lin caught sight of the massive black clouds rising over the harbor as another storm front approached from the west.

Her heart became cold stone as she ignored her wailing kits and chased on. Flinty with fury Lin hammered down the back stairs into the kitchen only to come up short. It was full of frightened humans and the stink of fear turned her stomach. Baring her teeth angrily she made them scatter. Growling in exasperation, stymied by the crowd of churning bodies, Lin searched for a level head in their midst as her kits continued to scream. Then she caught sight of Kai. The human child scrambled forward only to be ensnared in Naniko's terror stricken grip. She followed the youngling's pointing gray eyes and reaching hands to the back slider. Lin blinked as she saw Haku's back. Over his armored shoulder she recognized the interior of the Amano home immediately. She also recognized the stink of blood as it rolled over the sill in a gust of the dragon's disquieted wind. But as Lin darted forward reaching for the door Onsen slammed the slider shut in her face. Ripping it open Lin stumbled out onto the back porch as the connection severed. Blinking rapidly, she stared uncomprehending at the almost melted patches of snow. Screeching in fury she whirled and stalked back into the kitchen shouting at the ceiling.

" _What did you do!?"_

As the house rattled and quaked bleeding shadowed terror Natsumi darted down the front stairs pale with worry. She was followed shortly by Hiko, Ginka, and Usagi. The little flowers were carrying sloshing water buckets as if they'd forgotten to put them down. Seeing the humans, the rabbit shrank and cowered behind her mop as if it could hide her from their eyes.

"What is it, Lin?!" The old yuna cried in anxious confusion, "Why are you shouting?"

Spinning on her heels Lin looked on helplessly as Naniko threw herself at the back slider. Yanking it shut the human turned with trembling fingers the strange arrow pinned there. As she hauled the door open again the dark smoke-stained interior of the Kumomi Shrine's living quarters showed on the other side. Dragging Kai behind her Naniko sprinted across leaving her shoes behind. Snarling savagely Lin bore down on Natsumi forcing the kits into her hands.

"Take them!"

The swaddling loops of the slings nearly overwhelmed the tiny kami. But Natsumi accepted them with care already bouncing and shushing them calmingly as they continued to wail and wriggle. Bending beneath a sudden weight of dread Lin crouched to kiss her babies wanting nothing more than to take them back. But before anyone else could speak; before the house could slam any more doors in her face; Lin propelled herself up and away and gave chase again.

Fast and fleet, she followed in Naniko's footsteps across the threshold as it slammed at her back with a resounding crack. Eerie gnawing buzzing crawled all across her skin as Lin skidded to a halt on the smooth tatami mats that filled in the expansive empty room. She almost trampled the old priest as Goshiro looked up from his seat beside the fire crackling placidly in the ancient recessed hearth. Through the rising smoke Lin watched as Naniko threw herself into Keiichi's arms clinging to him as the distressed young priest caught her in surprise. Lin blinked, finding Keiichi dressed in the splendid robes the humans usually reserved for ceremonies of highest formality. Skittering backwards until he knocked against the black paneled wall and set his round spectacles askew, the human stared at her in open-mouthed shock.

"Welcome, O-kami-sama."

Lin's attention dropped back to the old priest as he stirred. Darting to kneel beside the wizened old priest Kai tugged the old man's sleeve. He glanced at her sideways with a grim expression no child should wear.

"It's Miss Lin, granddad."

Slowly, so very slowly Lin flustered and squirmed impatiently, the old priest straightened only to frown up at her with grave solemnity.

"Is it? Well, then. Welcome home, Hayashimi-sama."

Lin's mouth felt open at the sound of her true name on the human's lips. She worked it soundlessly for a moment before remembering how to speak.

"How do you know my name, priest?"

As the old priest's attention drifted away like wood smoke Kai answered nervously.

"He sees things t'way my mom an' Obasama used t'see things."

Now the old priest addressed the frightened human female.

"Naniko-san. Take Taki and Yoji to your cousin in Matsuzaki Bay. Do not come home tonight."

Strangely there was no room for argument in the old priest gentle suggestion. Even now Naniko was pulling away from Keiichi as if against her will.

"W-what about Kai?"

Slowly Goshiro lifted a gnarled hand as if there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Kai will stay."

Here the priest's voice took a commanding edge. Again there was no way to refuse.

"Go now, my dear. Go quickly and do not stop for anyone or anything."

At once Naniko fled down the front hall with many backward glances. Keiichi watched her go with a haunted expression of wanting Lin understood all too well. As the old priest began speaking again Lin's attention rounded on him sharpening to a keen edge at what he said next.

"There are those in the two worlds who unknowingly attract light, O-kami-sama. Sen is one of them. But with light there is also dark. And so there are also those who accidentally gather shadows. Ikiri is one of them. My granddaughter shares the same affliction as her mother and my late wife."

The old human sighed gustily.

"The Buddhists call it karma. Humans call it bad luck. Kami call it _kegare_ (3). O-Sengen-sama will not see Ikiri because of it. But you see her. For that I am exceedingly grateful, O-kami-sama."

With slow difficult movements Goshiro bowed to her with painfully slow practiced care. As Lin stared at him for a long moment unsure of where this was going she sank onto her haunches glancing between him and Kai muttering diffidently.

"I am unlucky too, priest. I understand what it's like to be cast out."

Here the priest smiled, slowly, so very slowly, as if time had no meaning to him. His colorless eyes disappeared into smiles as the paper thin skin of his face creased and folded into deep lines.

"Forgive me for being contrary, O-kami-sama. You have survived much and it has made you stronger. Your bad luck has come full circle as you are very, very lucky indeed."

Here the ancient human's face fell as his sharp eyes grew dark and distant.

"The Buddhists say this world is a wheel. It turns round and round and round until the end becomes the beginning and the beginning becomes the end. The only way to stop it from turning is by exhausting your karma. I do not know if Ikiri will ever come full circle. I fear not, O-kami-sama. But I hope otherwise. If she does not the darkness inside her will swallow her whole."

Suddenly the old priest's attention drifted overhead and he studied the swirling smoke.

"Keiichi. Fetch the ōnusa."

As the young priest scurried to the east facing wall Lin watched him fold up before a massive alter made of unvarnished cypress. A strange paper fletched stick stood upright in holder on the offering table. As he took it up and bowed again holding it over his head the whispering sound of the paper made Lin's insides creep and skitter. Lin startled at the little boy took her hand. It burned against her skin. The solemn child was vibrating with terror as his panic constricted face turned back and forth between them appealing for reassurance.

"What about dad? What about all t'b-b- _blood_ …?"

Lin saw the cloud passed over Goshiro wizened face as he turned away from the human child. He smiled again but his mouth was tight and the sentiment never reached his eyes. His affection for Kai was evident as the ancient human placed one of his misshaped hands on the child's head.

"Do not worry. He and your mother will be with you always, my boy."

Lin's insides thrilled with cold premonition over what the priest said in a gentle consoling tone that rang with a finality she did not like. She didn't get a chance to question him on it. Keiichi returned to his grandfather sinking onto his knees appealing to the old priest anxiously. The young human tucked his stick into the crook of his arm and bowed making it shiver. Lin gritted her teeth at the sound. Shuddering violently, she edged away from the bobbing black lacquered tail on the young priest's hat.

"Grandfather, I… I do not understand!"

Patting his grandson's planted hands with gnarled fingers Goshiro smiled blithely as his eyes retreated into wrinkles. This time his smile was sincere.

"The Gods have chosen you, dear boy. They've chosen both you and Kai. What more is there to understand?"

Here the young priest gasped and startled, shrinking from the ceiling as a monstrous crack of thunder boomed almost directly over the house. Kai threw himself against Lin's knees quaking in terror as in the same moment a sizzling flash lanced across the sky. For a moment the world dissolved into a blinding flash of green-gold light and without so much as a flicker every electric light in the house cut out plunging the smoky room into darkness. Every hair on Lin's body was standing on end as her instincts screamed with warning. Gripping a handful of the boy's scruff, ready to throw him over her shoulder and carry him off if need be, Lin bent over Kai as another fizzling arch of lightning lit up the translucent paper sliders. Then the light was gone and the world lapsed into a dark so thick it could have been night though it was barely noon.

"It is time," the old priest intoned ominously.

Before Lin could snap she startled violently as a vicious wind smashed against the side of the house. Gritting her teeth and squatting over her heels clutching the boy, Lin stared askance at the shadow thick rafters as the roof lifted and flexed sending down plumes of dust. Outside the gale scoured the exterior of the house with slashing scrambling fingers as trees moaned and creaked knocking against each other with heavy thumps she felt deep in her chest. Then the sliders to the veranda ripped open letting in a feral wind that swept the heavy smell of rain and salt water through the open room. Lin forsook the boy for Umi's knife on her feet with bared teeth and the red gleam of fight humming in her blood. But she went absolutely still a badly burned God dropped onto the tatami.

It took her a moment to recognize Suzume. Lin had no recollection of crossing the room to her husband's side. Her head was empty with panic as she hauled him up against the wall of her stomach. Propping him against one of her bent knees she clutched him tight to her chest with her only hand. His scorched robes eroded into ash turning to power where they pressed between them. The soft silky fall of his uneven hair was singed and wiry plastered against his sweat slick brow. His eyebrows were gone. So were his eyelashes. Lin's teeth snapped together audibly as she found the soft skin of his handsome face split and blistered with heat sores.

Worse were the burns on his already blackened hands. They looked like scorched firewood spent from burning. These clutched at the front of her yukata with difficulty staining the lapels with more weeping red. Lin could only stare down at him uncomprehending. The fox was made of fire. Fire could not burn fire and yet somehow it had. Smothering the consuming terror beneath the crushing weight of stone Lin shook him gently. His dull eyes cracked open for the briefest moment. Brightly they flashed with recognition as he heaved a sigh of relief and sagged in her grip. Suzume panted for breath as he clenched his eyes gritting white sharp teeth against tremendous pain. They were smeared with gleaming wet red.

Lin's insides writhed in horror at the sounds that slipped across the crackled and bleeding part of his parched lips. The stifled sounds of his suffering brought her to tears eyes. Enraged by the burned in her eyes and clamping vice that closed her throat Lin ground her teeth against the agony in her heart. She held her mate helplessly as he continued to cringe. Realizing she might be hurting him Lin eased the pressures of her arm. Carefully she cradled his weight between her chest and knee rocking him from side to side ever so gently making the same soothing sounds she made for the kits. Then Suzume snorted weakly as if amused or annoyed. Lin wasn't amused.

The promise of retribution seethed in her heart as the hilt of Umi's knife pressed against her sternum almost painfully. Lin breathed lightly because he stank strongly of burned flesh and singed hair. The mix of the acrid bitter and sickeningly sweet smells hanging above the sharp white stabbing scent of pain made bile rise in her throat. But Lin resisted the nausea only to catch a whiff of another smell. There was no mistaking the stink of the sweet spicy smell of incense. At once she went perfectly cold and completely still with understanding. Lin knew the scent. She had smelled it many times before on Shurui's train.

"Goshiro…" Suzume wheezed in a whisper dry voice like the fluttering of dry leaves.

Lin startled as finally the fox spoke. Glancing down she found Suzume's gold eyes were open. They burned with deadly urgency as the fox pointed a hand formed of living charcoal. Across the room the young priest sat white-faced with shock beside his grandfather. He was shaking so violently the paper-fletched wand clutched in his hand shivered in sympathy. Lin shuddered as her insides shrank from the ominous sound. Suzume's brittle voice could barely be heard above its whispering voice.

"I need your help, old friend…"

As the wizened old priest bowed low and slow Keiichi hurried to imitate him. The younger priest almost knocked his forehead against the floor as he did.

"Of course, Suzume-dono."

Next the fox's eyes darted to Kai. The boy was still sprawled on the tatami where she'd left him.

"And yours as well, child **...** "

* * *

 **HAKU**

His back hit familiar eroding sand as a placid wave tumbled him into the shallows. Then frozen hands hauled him up out of the water shaking him viciously. The Harbor God rudely shouted in Haku's face his clipped Kumomi brogue surface. All the while Haku gasped for air coughing up water.

"What t'hell you _fuckin'_ idiot! I didn't give y'back that much! Y'could've drowned!"

Responding to his anger furious waves broke on the God's back swelling around them they surged. Sagging in the God's grip still half stunned and submerged Haku struggled to keep his head above water. Hidé was quite terrifying as his voice boomed it carried all the weight of the crashing breakers beyond the sea walls. But Haku was not impressed. Distantly annoyed he managed to wheeze a mild response as he endured Hidé's tantrum.

"I hoped… you would not let me…"

Chewing curses under his breath Hidé frowned grimly.

"You've got too much faith in me, boss!"

Here Sengen's son dropped him, unceremoniously returning him to the waves in a splash. As Haku sank helplessly beneath the spreading salt water more hands arrived pulling him through the towing water onto the shore. As waves lapped up around his legs he kicked and scrambled backwards in a sudden panic. Only now that dry land was beneath him did he fear the sea at once afraid the water might chase after and pull him back under.

Well away from the surf Sen dropped into the sand behind him silently bearing his weight without complaint even as he flagged backwards in utter exhaustion. Haku gritted his teeth against the stinging pain the salt water left in every burn and crack afflicting his skin. Yanking up his mask Haku dragged in breath after breath still coughing up water. He stared in mute fascination as steam began to rise for her waterlogged arms. Even through all her armor she produced tremendous heat. Haku was exceedingly grateful. His teeth chattered audibly as he shook with violent shivers that made his very armor rattle. How she had come to be here so quickly Haku did not know. It mattered not. Turning his face against her cracked chest plate he struggled to press closer. Her strong hands closed over his gloves. They burned like fire; tightened to the point they caused him pain. He had burned many times this day, but this time Haku did not care.

Then Sen tensed and Haku jerked in surprise opening and raking his eyes across the beach. Haku went perfectly still as the Harbor God waded into the shallows trailing the billowing folds of his hakama behind him. The fabric sparkled beneath the waves like iridescent fish scales alive and flashing. Ikiri was a frail slip of thin flesh and jutting bone in the God's powerful arms. Her lips were blue and skin clammy gray against the gleam of the Gods hard mother-of-pearl skin. She was breathing. Haku could see the subtle rise and fall of her bare chest. At once Haku's hand went straight to his side closing over Hanoane's grip because the strange marks were still etched across Ikiri's skin. They were oozing now, red and raw like fresh burns for they were indeed burns. Worst was the band around her neck. It left a wide puckered wet as wide as Haku's palm making him remember the searing torment the burn on his hand had caused. The band would leave terrible a scar. So too would all the marks.

Hissing waves flattened in white edged fans against the sloped beige sand as Hidé folded back onto his heels laying the naked female out in the spreading shallows. The water dwindled lower and lower until the barest inch remained. Gently; so very gently as if afraid she might shatter; Hidé smoothed the sand from Ikiri's slack face gazing at her with a stricken expression. But then the God seemed to see something and drew back his hand. Just as slowly as the eddying ebb and flow of the surf his features etched and tightened into deep lines of horror beneath as beneath the wet fringe of his hair as he saw what Haku had.

"What _t'fuck_ is happening?!"

As the Harbor God demanded of them in a stricken hush Haku dumped sideways into the damp sand when Sen abruptly lurched upright. Laid out at her feet he stared up at her from the corner of his eyes as she pushed back her phoenix facade. The face behind the carved camphor wood was a mask of a different kind; calm and cold in spite of the heat blisters cracking her lips and cheeks. But there was a wild fire of terror burning in Sen's quicksilver eyes. He could feel the heat rolling off of her in great draughts that were slowly drying his sodden clothes and making the sand steam. Haku was not prepared for what Sen pronounced next in her iron-grim voice.

"When Kiri came back from the spirit world something came with her. Its name is Garuda."

All the air disappeared from his lungs and he found himself utterly frozen by the revelation. Few things could inspire in him sheer heart-stopping terror. Spiders were one such thing. The ocean was another. But angry waves and insects, however, could not compare to his greatest fear. Losing Sen again was what he feared most. But now this name rose like bitter smoke and shadow to haunt him. Haku thought he had laid that ghost to rest along with the doom that bat had named for him. Garuda was dead. Long ago Kubi killed him. And yet now? Waves threw themselves against the cliffs booming like distant drums. They struck the rocks so violently Haku could feel the resounding echoes in his chest. As if trying to warn him a bitter salt wind slapped him in the face. It shrilled around his mask, plucking on the edges of his gambeson and plate, whistling in his ears. And the iron in Sen's voice turned brittle on the edge of her question.

"Can you help her?"

The newly made God did not sound at all self-assured.

"Dunno… There's, uh, there's somethin' else…"

Sen blinked shifting uncomfortably in the sinking sand.

"W-what do you mean something else?"

The Harbor God did not seem to hear her. He had drifted closer to Ikiri bowing his head to peer at her askance. His uncanny sapphire eyes flashed like terrible bright mirrors in the gathering gloom of the oppressive black sky. Rain was hanging heavy over their heads. Haku could taste it in the air bringing with it the electric thrill of building static. Thundered rolled and this time it was not the waves. Breathing out the long shuddering breath he found himself holding a thrilling shudder set every hair on his body standing. Utterly sick with dread Haku could not force a single word across his lips. Instead he grabbed Sen by the back of her belt anchoring her in place as she took a step toward the shore repeating herself impatiently.

"What do you mean something else!?"

Then Haku noticed the water ringing Ikiri was hissing slightly. It was not the usual fizzle of the spreading surf. Curls of steam began to rise from her naked flesh as the water lapping her skin boiled. Hidé rocked back onto his heels splashing wildly as he shouted as if frightened.

 _"Tatarigami!"_

Viridian lightning cracked directly over their heads and Haku flattened to the ground dragging Sen with him. The soft sand beneath them lurched and stirred as the air sizzled with white hot electric heat. The lancing fire smashed against the massive cypress standing watch in the tree line just behind them obliterating the trunk in a shower of smoldering splinters. Pelting them with sap and needles and burning shards of wood the tree shuddered with a bass moan teetered then came crashing down above them. Wind detonated as Haku's instincts took over. It catapulted them sideways into a tight roll seconds before the massive weather worn cypress smashed into the sandy bank where they had been.

Sprawled there on the sand bank Haku looked on in consternation as Ikiri sat up through a thickening veil of salted steam. All around her the surf boiled and evaporated. As if afraid the hissing waves retreated leaving the shallows exposed. Hidé retreated with the edge of the water for he could not set foot on dry land. Haku flinched as a licking tongue of green-gold fire kindled a winking third eye on Ikiri's brow. Icy dread turned to utter horror as slowly the color eroded from the emerald flames. Like cinders turning to soot the fire turned black, black, black!

Slowly the thing that had been Ikiri lifted its face and looked at him. The sand beneath the frail mortal's naked body boiled and shivered as it stood without hurry. And all the warmth and all the light seemed to flee the world beneath that gaze. Transfixed by horror, Haku found he could not move. Its endless eyes were black as onyx and burning with power that did not belong to anything human. Tatarigami: the word rang in Haku's ears like the thunder that rolled again distantly.

Tatarigami: a God of resentment.

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) The wand I describe is a _Ōnusa_ (大幣) or simply nusa (幣), a wooden wand used in Shinto rituals. It is decorated with many shide (zig-zagging paper streamers). It is waved left and right during purification rituals.

(2) _Kanmuri_ (冠) is a traditional Japanese hat worn by noblemen with ceremonial dresses called _sokutai_ and _ikan_ (衣冠) and was most prevalent in the Heian era. It, and the eboshi hat, are part of Shinto priests official regalia.

(3) _Kegare_ (穢れ or 汚れ) is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement, important particularly in Shinto as a religious term. Typical causes of kegare are the contact with any form of death, childbirth (for both parents), disease, and menstruation. In Shinto kegare is a form of _tsumi_ (taboo violation), which needs to be somehow remedied by the person responsible. This condition can be remedied through purification rites called _misogi_ and _harae_. Kegare can have an adverse impact not only on the person directly affected, but also to the community he or she belongs to. _Kegare_ is a highly corruptive, potentially toxic substance generated by guilt, suffering, and despair.


	48. Chapter 48

**HAKU**

Before he could snatch Sen up into the sky the commanding shriek of bells shoved him aside. Haku landed sideways in the wet sand scrambling like an overturned crab. Reeling he rolled onto his back only to cringe as Sen stepped over him. In his eyes she seemed suddenly impossibly huge, taller than the thrashing trees at his back. She was taller even than the distant beige cliffs ringing the bay. Where he thought to flee Sen stood to fight; as she did she held a furling rainbow in her hand. Ribbons of color cracked like a whip as she swung it hard to the side. Bellsong screamed but then something happened so fast Haku barely had time to see. The demon did not smash down into the wet sand as he expected. Instead it was Sen who fell. The same invisible fist she let fly on the back of bells returned to strike her instead.

As Sen's feet left the ground Haku sprang upright on coiled wind to catch her. But the blow was thrice as strong and thrice as unexpected. The impact knocked him senseless as they caught air not of his making. Together they catapulted backwards off the beach. Smashing through young trees and bushes they crashed down in the forest beyond. Momentarily lost in the blinding white sparklers Haku cringed in the mossy duff atop a shattered pile of painfully jutting sticks shielding his eyes from a cascading rain of dry pine needles. Birds shrieked and scattered scolding loudly from the canopy. Coughing and gasping Haku struggled to return the wind to his lungs as his ears rang from the strength of the blow. Casting about, it took him a moment to recognize his surroundings. This was all that remained of the old village in the human world.

Small piles of snow left over from the freak storm took refuge in the frosted shadows. Like forgotten graves, piles of thick moss-cloaked stone drowsed where once there had been houses. As a testament to time maples of size had planted themselves within the eroded foundations. Tall grass choked the clearing all except the path leading from the shore. The leaf choked trail divided the meadow meandering here and there before dwindling away beneath the broken listing flagstones that surmounted a raised mound in an ancient set of stairs. Haku could just make out the decayed foundations of an old tori at either side of the base.

Atop the hill amidst a dense thicket of bamboo sagged the rotted bulk of the old shrine in which the Aburaya kami had taken refuge from the Forgotten what felt like ages ago. Surprisingly the structure had survived the ravages of time. Moss and ferns carpeted the spongy veranda and the doors to the inner sanctum had long since decomposed. But in spite of its state the shrine still exuded a sublime presence. Haku was struck by the hallowed aura even from where he sprawled; because out of the interior branching its way through holes in rotted moss thatched roof a camphor tree had sprouted. The ancient sacred rice rope that once hung beneath the interior altar had gotten tangled in its branches sanctifying its canopy.

Surroundings forgotten, drunk on his feet in disorientation, a flash of red brought him scrambling to Sen's side as salt-laden wind shifted the canopy overhead. Fortuitously Haku had not cracked his head on any of the foundations stones. Where chance had been with him it had abandoned Sen. She was laid out at the foot of a wall of crumbling stones through which her back had smashed a new rut. Haku's heart lurched up into his throat before sinking like a shard of frozen ice. Displacing her suzu in a noisy clatter of scolding bells he hurriedly eased the mask from her heat blistered face and found fresh blood running down the side of her temple from a cut in her hair. Her eyelids fluttered, silver eyes gleaming momentarily as they caught the light filtering from above before rolling back into her head. Flustering in terror, Haku went to war with himself over whether he should move her or not. Doing so could bring more harm than good especially should something be broken! He knew all too well that humans were brittle things. Even if he dared to move her he could not flee this place and leave the tatarigami unchecked. Torn in two, Haku choked on the fox's name in an anguished hiss.

"Suzume-san! _Suzume-san!_ "

But the fox did not appear. And all at once a violent shudder of dread went crawling up his spine. Whirling unsteadily Haku swallowed the thrilling pinch of terror in his throat as his pulse surged. Cold sweat broke out all across his body as premonition hung over his head so heavy his knees began to shake. Slowly, ever so slowly the grass in the clearing closest to the shore began to turn brown before his very eyes. The pall spread to the canopy as well. Shriveled leaves began to rain like snow as his heart beat faster and faster. The light filtering from above began to dim as his shuddering breath plumed white in the plunging temperature. Finally it came; slowly and unhurriedly; as if it had all the time in the world. And as the tatarigami gingerly picked it way through the brittle twigs and branches the forest withered and died.

Gone were its viridian-gold feathers of fire. All that remained was the licking tongue on its brow, which slowly spread a film of staining soot up its naked pate. Even though it appeared to be little more than a naked human, brittle of bone and pale pathetic sickly flesh, the sight of the thing made him faint with dread. By now his heart was hammering in his chest throbbing in his ears to the point he could barely hear anything else. Haku had seen muenbotoke: the terrible forgotten Gods that had destroyed Aburaya. He had seen hordes of Gaki thick like cockroaches. He had endured human ghosts, spirit demons, and enraged Kami. But never in his existence had he seen such a thing as this in either of the worlds! It gazed at him unblinking as if it knew him and his skin crawled under its attention. Haku pronounced the name in a sickened hush half afraid of the answer he would receive.

"Ikiri-san?"

As it nodded he flinched from the dry rasp of its voice. It was little more than a hollow whisper.

" **Whatever is left."**

As the black depths of its eyes raked around the clearing the leaves fell faster and faster in curling curtains of death. Reaching out the tatarigami touched one of the maples. It came alive and writhed for a moment as if in pain moaning and creaking only to twitch to stillness as a shadow seemed to fall over it. Haku looked on in fright as the tree began to rot withering and drying out until it eroded into a shivering cloud of dust. The scandalized question fell from his lips without his consent.

"W-what are you doing!?"

Suddenly the thing's terrible gaze rounded to him once more.

" **Killin' trees."**

The tatarigami's matter of fact answer was composed in the same clipped brogue that all Kumomi villagers used. Haku did not understand the malice it turned against the clearing as all around him the trees shuddered and knocked in dread. Again he spoke without realizing it.

"Why!?"

The tatarigami was too happy to explain as it trampled the life from a copse of ferns. As with all Gods it did not seem able to lie.

"' **Cause Hidé loves this place, which's all t'more reason for me t'hate it."**

Here its gaze dropped to Sen before it lifted back to pin him in place. As it didHaku's very blood turned to ice as his breath rattled from his lungs in a pluming cloud.

" **Next I'm gonna burn down t'Onsen an' kill everyone you love."**

As if it knew exactly where to hit him, the thing's words stabbed the rawest chord the strings of his heart could summon. That it threatened all that he held so very dear and precious summoned in him such blind belligerence. At once his bow was in his hand with arrow knocked as enraged wind blew out of him. The tatarigami took note of the arrow not in the least disconcerted. But it did not attack. Again it rasped in its hushing breath touching a live wire to his soul as it pronounced his name becoming something more as it did.

" **Be careful Nigihayami Kohaku. I am Urami."** (1)

Its' words meant nothing to him; fury had robbed him of all sense. In that moment there was no fickle dithering. His hands were already soaked with blood. He carried more ghosts on his back than he could count. Amano was dead; so was Kubi; so was Karasu. He would not lose anymore. Without hesitation he sighted at the thing's heart and pulled the string to his singed lips in one smooth gesture. Then he let the arrow fly. Again he placed behind the fletching a tightly coiled wind crafted from the bitter anguished sorrow pent up in the cavernous hollow that was his heart. The bolt screamed as it launched from the humming string, cutting like a blade as it sliced through air leaving him thrilling with vindication. Then something slammed into his chest.

The stunning impact made his silk steel chest plate shatter. Haku did not remember falling. All at once he found himself half sprawled beside Sen. Indescribable pain bloomed through his chest, lancing up his right arm in boiling stabs of agony. He stared in shock at the arrow protruding from his shoulder. Shards of his chest plate fell away as he gripped the shaft. Haku stared uncomprehending at the fletching. It was his arrow the very arrow he had just loosed at the tatarigami. Suddenly he found himself choking as red welled between his fingers. His head swam as a punch of panic strong as the arrow's impact. Deliriously he fretted that somehow his lungs had gotten full of salt water once more.

As he coughed he nearly passed out in the spreading agony. His laboring heart throbbed in his ears as his sight blurred with sparklers. Sagging back on the stones he realized his other hand was wet with red from the blood on his lips. As a thin sweat slicked his face suddenly he heard again its earlier warning. _Urami_ was an archaic word. It meant retribution: the return of deeds done with bitter interest. Slowly as his ears continued to ring he understood. If he struck it with a blade, bow, or fist the violence would return to him three-fold.

 **"Warned you."**

Haku jerked as he found the tatarigami crouched beside him hugging its knees like a child. It was so close he could see the raw weeping burns markings its skin. Beneath it bare feet the moss carpeting the ground turned dry as its presence wrung the life from them. Struggling with his off-hand he tugged at Hanoane. But given what had happened with bow and arrow it was a useless gesture. Hoarsely he demanded answers desperately trying to find reason in its madness.

"Why!? Why are you doing this!?"

Blood stained spittle flew from his lips flecking its wan face with tiny specks of red. It did not so much as flinch. Its eyes were utterly soulless, black and unblinking like a shark's.

" **Misery loves company."**

As again its eyes slide sideways to Sen the world went bright and white as an all-encompassing swell of terror surged in his beleaguered heart. Haku dropped Hanoane. In her place his hand sought a bell fletch fan as he forsook violence to employ redirection. Red and gold furled in the gloom as terror born adrenaline revived him enough to act. With a gentle wafting flick Haku persuaded the tatarigami to her feet and away across the clearing on the soft chime of bellsong. But the same returned to him in kind thrice as strong. He was yanked to his feet and propelled out into the clearing so roughly he almost fainted. As his head swam Haku dropped to his knees cringing with a stifled cry as the arrow jarred. Spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dead grass Haku glared as the tatarigami clucked its tongue.

" **Tricky, tricky. But how long can y'last?"**

Bent over his knees baring his teeth Haku gripped the fletching of the arrow tighter and tighter until he snapped it off with a bellowed cry. Afterward he struggled to catch his breath. He could not seem to get enough air into his aching lungs. He coughed in agony forced to spit more phlegmy blood. But he continued his interrogation searching for something to leverage. Abandoning all decorum he called up the most vicious of questions trying to gouge at it and find some weakness.

"Why did you kill Amano!?"

That gave it moment's pause. Again it crept back to crouch close as if to keep him company. Haku cringed from the aura of despair exuding from its pallid skin as the tatarigami leaned closer like it was making read to tell him a secret. The black tongue of flame on its brow guttered and it writhed as if in pain. There was no remorse in its rasp only the crushing compelling bitterness of truth.

" **Cuz I hate myself most of all."**

The unwavering certainty in its grim pronouncement infected him like a killing frost. Stunned, Haku could only stare back uncomprehending as it produced its grim pronouncement.

" **You'll lose, Nigihayami. We all lose in t'end. But you understand already. It started that day for both of us. Y'remember, dontcha? Neither one of us can have want we want. An' when y'realize you've got nothin' left, you'll be the same as me."**

Hissing between his teeth Haku shrank from it in horror.

"I will _never_ be like you!"

Now it was peering at him appraisingly as if reading a clock running out of time.

" **You're already me."**

Turning his face away grinding his teeth Haku quailed with horror as it leaned even closer. Its breath smelled like death chapping his face with chilling frost.

" **Thought you could get away by changing, huh? You can't. God or human, it doesn't matter. You're soaked through an' it's only a matter of time."**

And his insides heaved and writhed as its attention fixed on his right hand. It stared as if seeing the black blot his first finger bore as evidence of Yubaba's curse.

" **Won't be long until it eats you like I ate her and him."**

As his sight began to swim and go gray with revulsion Haku jerked as a distant crack of thunder boomed. It sounded so close the very ground beneath his body shook making the foundation stones clatter and shift. Eerie premonition hummed in his blood as the tatarigami turned away from him and straightened slowly. Suddenly it was talking to someone and to whom Haku did not know.

" **Don't act so surprised. Y'knew this would happen."**

Suddenly a stiff salt wind howled off the harbor. Angrily it whistled and hissed through the canopy. And the black flame perched on its brow writhe in a wind not of his making.

" **That's why you've always hated me. I scare you."**

Still ignoring him the tatarigami continued to chide the phantom presence.

" **You should be scared. You made me. That's why you can't stop me."**

The tatarigami stood resolutely as a massive wall of muddy saltwater roared through the trees. The wave was so tall it swallowed the tall pines and lofty maples entirely. Born of sheer panic, feral wind erupted from his body screaming warnings in his ears. Adrenaline brought renewed vigor to his sluggish body and Haku sailed backwards as the tsunami crashed through the clearing. Catching hold of Sen and her suzu he rocketed up through the thrashing trees ripping free into thin air. Welling water chased after them eddying through the treetops in choppy splashes that swallowed the trees whole. Haku felt the cold effervescent spray on his face and that frightened him higher.

In thin shreds of seconds the world went small and distant beneath his feet. Up into the empty sky he flew; up, up and up until his head kissed the low clouds. All the while the bells of the fan and suzu he clutched against Sen's body rang tremulously. Suddenly she stirred and agony lanced through his chest and shoulder as her arms shot around his neck to tighten like a vice. He weathered the pain as together they watched in dread from on high. Even from the sky he could hear the waves roaring. The great bass chorus of their fury echoed in his tiny chest.

Beneath them the boiling ocean flooded across the tall sea cliffs. It filled the narrow harbor to the brim rolling on to swallow the shore and the forest. Flooding onward it filled the narrow valley with angry gray green water churning and churning until it went muddy brown. Then there was no valley left at all and only a great inland sea. But slowly, so very slowly at first he did not see it, the muddy water began receding. The inland sea drained away leaving a swath of destruction in its wake. As the bay turned brown with silt it too began to drain until the cove had emptied entirely. Then even the ocean beyond seemed to peel away from the shore until the bare rocks gleamed like shard of obsidian. Slowly even the sea was forced back by the invisible unyielding hand of urami.

Overwhelmed by the strength of its curse Haku began to sink. Despair weighed on him like an anchor pulling him towards the ground against his will. He grew sick as he realized it. The tatarigami's words echoed in his head like the bat's doom. Turning his face away from the terrible sight at his feet Haku clasped Sen tightly with his good arm and put a coiled wind beneath his feet. The broken shaft of the arrow wrenched as speed thrilled in his humming blood. Grinding his teeth to bare the pain he fled from the sea as if chased. But as he flew his strength began to wane. He was light headed even as his body felt heavier and heavier. Not even the wind could help him now. His sight eroded as the spindly naked arms of the winter bare trees drifted closer and closer. But try as he might he could not keep them aloft even as devouring speed hastened them onward. Suddenly then unnerving hand of gravity closed in his stomach and pulled. They were falling now, arching sideways like a star from the heavens.

"Sen!" He gasped faintly, "Help me, Sen!"

He was half afraid he had not spoken at all for he could not tell. And the last thing Haku saw was the flash of blue tiles rushing by so near he could touch them.

* * *

 **LIN**

"Hayashimi… Hayashimi, no…"

Lin ignored the fox as he protested in a weakening rasp.

"It is the wrong way… The wrong way…"

But he couldn't do a damned thing to stop her as she threaded her arm around his brittle waist and hosted him upright. She carried him across the tatami to door bearing a gleaming red bath tile almost trampling Kai in the process. But the boy was quick and he darted out of the way. She kicked the slider viciously making it jump and shimmy in its tracks barking loudly as the bit of lacquered wood rattled against the slider.

"Open up, Onsen!"

Again the door shuddered as if scared of her. Instantly it ripped open and she strode across without a second through. On the other side Lin came up short finding the kitchen in chaos hence no one heard them come in. One of her kits was squalling furiously filling the kitchen to the rafters with his breathy cries. The sound was like a kick to Lin's gut and as once her breasts ached with milk. Across the kitchen Natsumi had Makoto and the old yuna was fretfully pacing by the telephone phone niche trying to get him to calm. But her son just squalled louder and louder kicking against his spider silk swaddling. Beside her one of Haku's human had Kokoro; the tall one with the sweet smile. Kenka? Was that his name? The human was still wearing his work apron gently rocking and patting her daughter with much success. Kokoro cooed happily tangling her tiny hands around and tugging on the chain at the human's neck jingling the rainbow colored rings threaded there. Kenka looked like he wanted to take Makoto but he couldn't get close enough to offer. Anxiously following in Natsumi's shadow, Hiko and Ginka clambered and stood on their tip-toes frowning uncertainly offering a flood of diagnoses.

"I think he's just angry."

Hiko nodded vigorously, affirming Ginka's assessment.

"Mr. Fox is always angry. That must be it."

Natsumi glanced back at them in exasperation as she struggled to keep ahold of Makoto.

"W-what?"

The flowers nodded in unison, still chasing the old yuna as they effused.

"He's just like his father."

"Yes! Yes! He's just as loud and cranky as Mr. Fox."

Blinking rapidly and caught off guard Lin snorted. Mr. Fox was indeed loud and cranky. Unfortunately she didn't have any time for this. Reassured that the kits were in good hands, Lin strode through the kitchen shoving her way between Usagi, Little Green Frog, Yoshi, and Aniyaku dragging Suzume with her. He was hanging on her like a dead weight and she wasn't sure he was even conscious anymore. More than startled by her appearance the bath house kami clambered aside pressing into a tight knot to let her pass. They had been peering under the split curtain anxiously listening in on the angry voices echoing down the front hall.

"Don't go out there, Miss Lin!"

Little Green Frog called at her back too late. Beyond the split curtain the last two of Haku's humans were arguing bitterly. One male and one female obviously caught up in some strange mating ritual. The tension between them was sickeningly obvious.

"Move it!" She barked harshly. "Out of the way!"

The female had some sense and she skittered aside. Unfortunately the male froze in terror, blocking the hallway as Lin bore down on him. She only had one hand and with it she held Suzume. Without so much as pausing she planted her foot in the middle of the human's chest and shoved hard. He flew backwards crashing down on the bare boards and bouncing like a child's toy. Cringing in on himself the human had enough wit to stay down as Lin thundered by on long loping strides. If he had scrambled she would've had to trample him. Without so much as an apology she took a sharp left at the welcome station. Onsen's presence ghosted by overhead like an anxious cloud of unseen mist ripping open the sliding doors leading to the bath wing. The spring boards of the covered walkway rebounded beneath her feet until they were replaced by the cold unyielding tiles of the bath wing foyer. As she turned for the slider leading to the hallway housing the private tubs the door yanked open of its own accord bouncing in its tracks as it hit the far wall. Heading for the biggest tub again Onsen anticipated her will. The thick cedar shutter at the end of the hall whisked aside spilling a flood of sharp green smelling cloud of steam out into the hall.

Her insides swelled with relief at the cloying scent of camphor. Onsen's water wasn't just refreshing; it was magic. The water could heal all ills even those of the Gods. Barging inside Lin hooked the door shut with her toe. The private room was tall and narrow paneled with rich gold camphor wood. It was a startling luxury. A slatted window was set high in the wall to vent the steam. Beneath it a massive plank tub of wet ruby cedar complete with a square wooden spigot that reminded her of Aburaya was set recessed into a waist high deck of more gleaming cedar polished. This Lin and Usagi struggled to keep polished to velvet smoothness. The tubs needed constant care, which meant endless scrubbing. The deck hovered above a floor paved with black flagstones angling down to a hidden drain. Lin hated scrubbing these stones. They took forever to get clean.

Suzume was out cold by the time Lin gently eased him down onto deck. His slack blistered face half hidden in the singed cloud of his fire-wired white hair. He had such a huge presence that it was startling to her how small he seemed. Scrambling up beside him in as the pinch of panic in her chest hammered a crack in her flinty heart Lin hurriedly planted her ear to his blistered chest. She wilted in relief as his heart thudded against her cheek. But his labored breath rattled and rasped in his lungs as if they were full of dry fluttering moths. Sitting back on her heels Lin gritted her teeth as she tugged at his robe struggling one handed to shuck his clothes. The beautiful garment that painted itself with the color of the fox's mood eroded into a pile of cinders in her hands lost forever to fire. His trousers fared no better breaking into brittle flakes of charcoal as she shucked them like a burned corn husk. Ripping off her yukata Umi's knife fell onto the deck. It rolled sideways before dropping off the lip and clattering on the stones. But she left it, swinging her long legs into the tub instead, hurriedly knotting her long hair into a messy lopsided bun as the hot water prickled against the skin of her thighs.

But as she leaned over the lip to grab Suzume's arm she froze. At once her fingers eased for fear his arm might crumble into ash like his kimono. She was accustomed to the black stains on his hands. He'd carried the burns since trying to pry Sengen's curse from Sen on the stones by the sea. But now his hands were little more than brittle charcoal as if they'd been left in a fire too long. As Lin stared at them her stony insides cracked and cracked and cracked dangerously as her heart swelled to the point of pain. Enraged, she ground her teeth against the vice in her throat, blinking to clear her blurring sight, refusing to let the terror touch her. Bending over him, catching him around the waist and shoulder with her only arm, Lin pulled Suzume close and dragged him into the tub.

Clasping him tightly she ducked him beneath the surface of the water and held him there becoming an obdurate stone. Suddenly the fox jerked in her grasp and loosed a gurgling shout. At once he was struggling wildly. His kicking feet clipped the edge of the tub making the wood splinter and shatter. His flailing elbows knocked into the sides making the wood hull boom like a taiko drum. But even as he clawed at her back with his brittle hands he couldn't hurt her; not while she was made of stone. The water could heal all hurts but that didn't mean it was a pleasant process. It would sting and smart just as bad if not worse than the blisters. Finally as his struggles weakened Lin broke the surface bringing him with her. But she anchored him firmly in the tub even as some of the water drained out of the hole he'd kicked. His arms locked around her neck as he clung to her sputtering in delirious panic.

" _The ocean!"_ He choked in a high thin voice, _"It is the ocean!"_

"It's not the ocean, you dope," she murmured mildly.

Finally satisfied he wasn't going to jump out of the tub she released the iron bar of the arm she had locked around his narrow waist. He still clung to her like she was an island amidst the vast sea even as they huddled together in the close press of the tub. Sitting back she smoothed the water plastered hair from his face. It was soft and silky again. He sat there meekly shaking in spite of the near boiling water and obviously in shock. His wide gold eyes were far, far away. Frowning appraisingly, she gently swept at the eroding soot on his cheeks with her fingers. It washed away revealing the bleeding oozing sores were gone. Encouraged, she pried one of his hands from her shoulders and ducked it under the water. Cupping it over the bend of her up-tucked knee she gently massaged his blackened hand. As he cringed the cinders fell away floating up to bob on the surface. Here Lin blinked rapidly staring in awe at the smooth skin. The burns had completely stripped away the previous stains. His long lovely tapered hands were white as new snow.

Grabbing his other hand she rinsed and rubbed them clean only to find they had gone just as white. They flexed and fanned, gripping her knee as Suzume shuddered and sneezed. Lin's lips pulled into a wry smile as he wrinkled his nose primly. Suddenly the bright gold flash of his eyes came into focus as they finally saw her. Her heart skipped a beat beneath the igniting fire in his eyes. As his soft silk hands slide up to cup her face her heart squeezed and swelled until she was faint and breathless.

"Hayashimi..."

Lin forced herself to close her eyes as she melted beneath the sound of her name on his lips. If she looked at him now she would lose herself. She sagged in the tub suddenly exhausted and weak with elation knowing he was going to be alright. But even as his hands held her, pulling her closer, the tender moment paused only to break as he rocked upright in a cascading shower of water.

" _Woman!"_

The fox cried aloud in mournful petulance.

" _I abhore being wet!"_

As he fled the beaten tub Lin dumped forward and sank beneath the surface of the filthy water. She blew out her long frustrated sigh in a cascade of bubbles. But her heart was still light with bright relief. Lurching upright in the tub she let the water roll off as she fought one handed to tame the thick tangle of her soggy hair. Lin blinked and came up short pressing her lips together as heat climbed into her cheeks. Through the veil of sweltering steam Suzume was gloriously naked standing tall and straight on the flagstones as if nothing had happened. He vigorously shook the water from the short uneven mess of his hair all the while anxiously flicking his hands to free them of droplets. Lin found herself openly admiring his haunches. They were long, lean, and strong. Her face went absolutely red as he glanced back and caught her looking. Lin scowled at the tub in abject embarrassment as the fox's moue transformed into a rare smirk. She crouched on the edge of the deck and went back to wringing her hair to hide her red face. But Lin froze as his face fell and the gleeful glint in his eyes extinguished. She watched from the corner of her eyes as he picked the tattered remains of his robe. As his handsome face drew into harsh lines his gold eyes burned with such sadness.

"My mother wove this for me."

He let it drop from his fingers only to produce from thin air the broken pieces of his gold flute.

"This belonged to my father."

These he let fall as well and they landed with hollow ringing tones. Sinking onto his heels on the slate stones trembling visibly he hid his face in his pale white hands. Scrambling off the deck to perch on her toes beside him Lin plucked at his hands uncertainly trying to get him to surface only to bowl forward as he seized her and pulled her forward into the crush of his arms. As he squeezed her tighter and tighter Lin held absolutely still. Bending over her nearly smothering her in his embrace Suzume breathed his breath ragged and uneven on her neck. Since they had given themselves to each other Lin had seen more of the fox than any other being on this earth. That he chose to reveal all his truths to her was the greatest gift any God could give. It still unbalanced her at time, because Suzume felt far more deeply than the others could know. He and Haku were so very similar that way. But as he sobbed the words into her shoulder Lin went absolutely rigid.

"Amano Tetsuo is dead…"

For a moment her mind went utterly blank. Then all she could see was the way the broken nosed human screwed up his face when he laughed. Getting Amano to laugh was a rare thing. She'd only seen it a few times when he was with Kiri. Then there was suddenly a pain in her chest; a terrible aching pang she knew all too well. Grief was a sickness; a diseased wound that you could never quite heal. Before it could spread and re-infect her she took a long breath and sat back on her heels. Reluctantly Suzume let her draw back watching with slow recognition as she turned to stone. His eyes were red with the unchecked tears and for a moment he looked like he wanted to argue. But he gritted his sharp teeth, drawing his lips into a grim line as she pronounced the question.

"How?"

Again his face tightened but this time with miserable shame.

"There was nothing I could do to save him."

"How!?"

Lin repeated firmly making the fox flinch and writhe as he avoided her gaze.

"Ikiri… killed him…"

Lin jolted bolt upright so suddenly Suzume let loose a yip of surprise. She hissed the words between her clenched teeth.

"That's not possible!"

He looked up at her wretchedly obviously at loss for words. Inside her chest the flinty armor she'd drawn on formed a crack. But Suzume could not lie and Lin knew it. All the same she could not believe it was true. She refused. There had to be another explanation. Taking one long ragged breath after the other Lin managed to reinforce her calm by clinging to that possibility. Turning on her heel, she popped open a hidden cabinet in the wall with a swift pound of her fist pulling out too fresh indigo yukata. They smelled strongly of camphor wood, which was a small comfort. Lin quickly trussed herself into hers with one-handed expertize as Suzume sniffled at the simple cotton. But he stood and dressed. Lin glanced at him and decided indigo didn't suit him. The dark hue washed him out entirely making him look like a ghost in a bath robe. She wanted to see him in reds and oranges with fancy flashy patterns. He was so very handsome when he was wearing red. Perhaps when all was done she could find Fumiko and get her to make him a new kimono? Spidersilk could be so very pretty. Turning away from dreams she peppered the fox with questions.

"Where's Kiri now?"

Suzume made a helpless gesture toward the ceiling.

"She flew away."

Lin blinked and blinked and blinked.

"Huh?!"

Not really explaining at all, Suzume continued to gesture overhead.

"Nigihayami gave her chase into the sky."

Lin began chewing her lip fretfully trying to make sense of her mate's ramblings. There was no way Ikiri could fly. But then the smell of incense lifted in her memory like a shadow passing over the sun. Suddenly so many dark possibilities folded open in the gloom Lin shrank from them in consternation. Turning aside, she returned to getting a handle on the situation.

"And Sen?"

Now he gestured sideways undulating his hand like one of Aniyaku's pantomimes.

"She called the sea and it took her away."

Dragging in a long breath Lin held it tightly to keep from screaming. Snatching Umi's blade off the stones she bit the blade until it felt like her teeth had dented the metal, pacing back and forth in the narrow berth of the tub room fighting to truss up her hair until Suzume stopped her. Forcing her to a seat on the deck he took the knife from her mouth.

"I like biting that!" She growled furiously, "It keeps me from saying stupid things!"

Ignoring her, the fox set the blade aside and made quick work of tying her climbed into her cheeks as her husband smoothed her unruly locks. Lin glanced at her knife anxiously before snatching up and secreting it into her obi.

"Why'd you come for Kai and the priests?"

This time Suzume made sense.

"We will need them to reach Ikiri."

Lin jolted to her feet startling the fox. He stumbled back and knocked hard into the wall letting lose another startled yip. The slider rattled half open letting the bitter cold in the hall invade. Seizing a handful of his collar Lin almost shook him in her fury. Suzume threw his hands into the air as if surrendering as his gold eyes went wide with shock.

"You're not getting Kai anywhere near that thing!"

She was through the slider sprinting down the hallway before Suzume caught her. Tackled her was more like it; he knocked all the air out of her lungs as they crashed onto the bare boards in a tangle of limbs. But as she scrambled to get up and keep running he dragged her down. Swinging his full weight on top of her, Suzume made a seat out of her stomach, leaning over her to pin her only arm with both his hand before she could hit him. Bucking and struggling, Lin raged in his face.

"Let me up, you stupid, _stupid_ fox! Don't make me hurt you!"

As he shouted right back at her just as furious, foxfires erupted around his shoulders. The errant blue flames scorched the walls and the floor as they careened around knocking into things blindly driven mad by the flashing dread in his mirrored gold eyes.

"Hayashimi, wait! There is much more than I have not told you!"

Baring her teeth Lin sat up until he was forced to lean backwards probably afraid she was going to bite him. Lin half had it in her mind to do exactly that. Instead she hissed hurried truth.

"I know what's inside of Kiri, Suzume. I've seen it. I can smell it on you still."

Stricken, he released her hand and sat back on his heels as the guttering foxfires froze. Staring at her askance the fox went paler than pale. Lin grabbed the front of his yukata, tightening her fingers on the lapel to keep from hitting him. Just thinking about what had happened on the spirit train made her see red. She explained quickly knowing he was listening.

"Shurui was using Kiri like some kind of vessel to hold the soul of an outsider God. The one called Kubi'd trapped it in a gold kimono. That's the reason the spiders kept Ikiri even after she lost her babies. They kept her because the suffering made her even _hollower_. But there were two hollows inside her; two for the two lives she lost. Even as the outsider God found a place in one all her suffering found a place in the other. It got stronger and stronger; strong enough to become a God."

Here Lin went feral with fear. She spat the words like she hated them. She did because there'd been nothing she could do to stop what had happened.

"Something went wrong. Shurui got desperate or impatient or something. She tried to make Kiri become the outsider God but he wouldn't let her. He didn't want to come back so he tried to burn himself alive. Kiri made it out alive somehow. At first I thought it was because he let her go. But he didn't die. He's still with her! So is the other thing!"

Still half hanging over her, Suzume had nowhere to hide. Pure terror etched his face while he listened. Lin blinked. It'd been a long time since she'd seen him so scared. Startled herself, Lin let go of his lapel and jerked in surprise as all at once Suzume folded forward, pressing his face into her chest as if trying to hide. His soft lips moved against the bared skin as again he was clinging to her again.

"I… I am frightened, Hayashimi..."

Awkwardly at first Lin smoothed her only hand across the broad expanse of his back. But soon the comfort she offered came naturally. Lin nuzzled the top of his head caught up again in a flood of relief as she found his spicy scent had returned.

"So am I."

He snorted in irritation, murmuring sullenly against her neck.

"Woman, you do not betray anything of the sort!"

The soft whisper of his mouth set a thrill of goose bumps climbing across the soft skin between the puckered skin where the Forgotten had burned her. It was a strange sensation as she had almost no feeling in the scar tissue. Tightening her fist on the soft cotton at the nap of his neck, she tried not to break. It would take her a while to put herself back together again. And they didn't have time for that.

"Amano was one of ours, Suzume. Later, when no one else is around but you, I'll cry. Hold me then."

Lin muttered these things reluctantly fighting the thickness in her throat. His reply was reply was soft with devastating affection. It didn't help in the slightest.

"Of course, beloved."

She shoved on him hard as he tried to gather her into his arms, knocking him hard on the back of his head with her ball fist, fighting and struggling to get out from under him.

"Not now, you dope! Ugh, will you get off of me! I need to find Sen and Haku!"

Suzume covered his head with his hands, yipping in pain before growling in exasperation.

"Hayashimi! Hayashimi, be gentle! I am delicate!"

As the sliding door at the end of the hall opened a crack she froze. Staring backwards and upside down, Lin's eyes met Natsumi's as the yuna peered inside. Her face ignited with embarrassment the same moment the yuna's smoky eyes went round. Instantly the slider snicked shut. Planting her feet firmly on the floor Lin summoned unnatural strength. In a single show she leveraged herself off the ground dumping Suzume at her feet. Striding down the hall, Lin ripped the sliding door open and launched past the flustering yuna.

"A-apologies, Miss Lin!"

Natsumi darted after her fretting in her shadow as only a yuna could.

"The priests were concerned for Suzume-san's health; I came to see if everything alright."

"He's fine." Lin choked as she refused to look back.

Overhead Onsen gave a chittering pop. It was the closest the house could come to laughter. Lin cringed as her face became incandescent.

"Where're my kits?"

Natsumi chagrin betrayed her as she hurried to explain.

"Kenka-san has them. Makoto seems to like him more than me."

Lin snorted at that. The tall human did seem to have a way of kindness about him. Glad her babies were still in good hands Lin nearly trampled Kai as she came careening around the corner from the bath wing into the front hall. Lin's bare feet skidded on the polish board floor; bring her up short just shy of knocking him over. The human child stood his ground looking up at her with round sober eyes. It took Lin a moment to realize they were gray; pale and colorless; just like Sen's. These were eyes that knew things; eyes that didn't belong to a child. Unnerved by his strangeness Lin took a step backwards bumping into Natsumi. Still pinning her in place with his uncanny eyes, Kai took a deep shuddering breath. Then he announced the terrible truth no normal human had any way of knowing.

"Dad's dead, isn't he."

It wasn't a question. Stunned, Lin just stood there as the world seemed to dissolve around her. She couldn't lie, so she didn't speak. Lin couldn't bring herself to say it; not yet, not yet. Instead she nodded grimly, clenching her teeth until something popped in her jaw. Because Amano Testuo was dead; nothing could change that fact.

* * *

 **Notes:**

(1) Urami (怨み) translates as resentment; grudge; malice; bitterness. The first character is alternately pronounced on, as in Ju- **On** (the movies) and **on** ryo (vengeful spirits). It's an important aspect of tatari, which is sometimes translated as curse or alternately, resentment. It is that resentment that brings retribution.


	49. Chapter 49

**LIN**

At her back Natsumi gasped as Onsen gave a great shuddering jolt. The house rattled from its foundations to the very roof sending down plumes of dust. Lin went bolt still gritting her teeth as Kai blinked rapidly. Even though the child knew his must've have been clinging to some hope because a light died in the human youngling's eyes as he dipped his chin. Big fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Snuffling loudly, Kai wiped them away with a filthy sleeve. Lin expected the boy to burst into tears and shriek and wail. But he didn't, which made him seem even stranger. Summoning grit at odds with his age, the boy took a long deep breath and nodded resolutely.

"At least he won't be sad anymore," Kai murmured quietly, "He's with mom now."

A massive crack threaded its way through her armored heart. Lin sank to her heels as if all the bones in her body had turned to water. She only had one arm but she offered it to him, wrapping it around his narrow shoulders as the boy folded forward into her lap. He was tiny, so very tiny; all bones, knees, and elbows like a little baby bird. Squeezing him gently half expecting him to squeak, Lin tucked the crown of his head under her chin, rocking him from side to side the way her kits enjoyed. Caught up in the grief that was bleeding through the fissures in her granite insides Lin tried to be gentle and soft. But she would never be either of those things and the words grated through her teeth rough and harsh.

"You are mine you strange, _strange_ little human!"

Even though they were hard her promise seemed to bring the human child comfort. Winding his little arms around her neck he clung to her the same way Suzume had earlier. Tensing instinctively, Lin glanced up sharply as Haku's humans pushed through the split curtain. The one she'd nearly trampled and the female came first clambering forward into the hall as Kenka followed with a flood of Gods at his back. They broke around his lanky legs spilling forward to fill the gaps. Aniyaku had turned up, no doubt roused by the raised voices judging from his disheveled robes and skewed cap. Usagi had the kits now, clutching Makoto and Kokoro in their silk swaddling trembling as if ready to run. Hiko and Ginka clung to the rabbit's apron as if afraid to be left behind. Looking faint, Yoshi hung heavily on Little Green Frog.

All wore the same stricken expressions that made it clear they'd been listening. Lin shrank from the crushing weight of their incredulous eyes. They looked at her pleadingly, as if wanting her to refute what Kai had announced. Morosely she stared back and held her silence. And a terrible pall fell over the house. Shoving his way between Gods and humans, the younger priest stumbled and almost fell as he lurched ahead of the crowd into the empty hallway. Standing panting he gaped at her incredulously. In the dim light filtering through the paper sliders of the great room Keiichi's face was absolutely white to match his glossy robes. His glasses were askew on his thin nose and his breath plumed, turning to a while cloud in the cold permeating the hall. The black lacquered tail on his ceremonial cap wobbled violent as the human shook more and more violently until he dumped down onto his folding knees.

Lin was startled by the strength of the grief and utter despair that welled in the young priest's wan face. Keiichi was a tangled mess of contradictions bound up in stupid human traditions of propriety. He said and did one thin but secretly felt another. But for once Keiichi let his true feeling show. Even though Amano was five years Keiichi's senior they'd grown up together. Amano had been Keiichi's friend. Reluctantly Lin remembered how the broken nosed fisherman had comforted the young priest with sake after he'd awoken to the Gods in Sengen's shrine. Together the males squabbled over how best to look after Ikiri while she'd been possessed by Manami's ghost. No doubt they had squabbled similarly after Ikiri failed to return from the spider caves. Grief was a subtle blade. It bit both ways when it turned into guilt. That was when it cut the deepest. It could slice apart even the closest kinships. But Lin was left blinking as the sorrow in his gray eyes turned to anger.

"Let Kai go!"

The young priest thrust out a demanding hand. Unsteadied by his sudden fury her hackles rose. Good sense fled as she spat a hasty refusal.

"He's not yours to demand, priest."

It was truth. Lin couldn't lie. But Keiichi felt otherwise and he snapped back furiously.

"He's not yours either!"

The human produced the paper fletched wand from the voluminous folds of his robes, pointing it at her making the sheaves hush and whisper. Lin's insides crawled with horror at the hissing shushing sound. It was like tearing claws on the thin membrane of her ears! With gasps the other kami clasped their hands over their ears milling in distress and knocking into each other blindly. Haku's humans pressed against the walls in utter confusion but remained untouched by the sound. Lin's insides squeezed with dismay as at her back Natsumi fled out into the entryway with a strangled moan. Makoto and Kokoro also began wailing in Usagi's arms. Quick as lightning, the rabbit fled back into the safety of the kitchen dragging the flowers and followed closely by the staggering frogs. But Lin couldn't follow.

Bending over Kai as a tremendous weight suddenly crushed down on her shoulders beneath the whispering hush, it took all her strength to resist the sudden urge to bow down and obey. Lin fought to stand as rage bloomed in her chest making her see red. With tremendous effort she managed to lurch to her feet and shake off the compulsion, forced to pick up Kai in the process as he refused to let go of her neck. Silent and unresponsive; Kai turned inward and wound himself into a tight knot. Clutching him just as tightly, Lin bared her sharp teeth as a powerful protective surge of maternalism swelled inside her flinty heart. Her missing arm burned, phantom fingers itching to feel the hilt of Umi's blade.

"Then take him back and prove me wrong!"

As she snarled viciously the human male flinched. But even as his wide round eyes gleamed bright with terror in the gloom with he held his ground summoning rare bravery. His hands shook, making the wand rasp and fluster as he pointed it at her accusingly. Before he could flick it again and send her reeling the prim-faced female caught Keiichi's arm and yanked him round.

"Stop it!" Megumi shouted angrily.

"Let go!" Keiichi shouted furiously as he tried to shake her off, "Let go, I said!"

As they struggled the priest shoved the female back making her knock hard into the wood paneled wall as she sprawled sideways. Instantly the smaller human male with the flame colored cloth on his brow came to the female's defense. Without hesitation he swung a balled fist at the startled priest swearing explosively.

 _"Don't fuckin' touch Meg y'piece o' shit!"_

With a meaty thwack that Lin found thoroughly satisfying the young priest dropped his wand and crumbled to the floor with a pained squawk disappearing into a pile of gleaming white and blue silk. Onsen gave another shuddering jolt as the glasses flew from Keichi's face and skittered across the boards to her feet. The priest dropped his wand as well and it landed with an awful clattering hiss. Frozen with shock until now, Kenka shoved by the female called Meg and caught the smaller male around the middle as he advanced on Keiichi with clenched fists.

"Whoa! Calm down, Jae! _C-can everyone just calm down!?"_

Lin didn't hear him. Her ears were full of the sound of Makoto and Kokoro's distant crying. The sound was worse than ten thousand paper wands! But she couldn't bring herself to put down Kai and there was no way to get past the scuffling knot of humans without wading into the row. Growling savagely, Jae dragged Kenka forward still reaching for the young priest. Meg was forced to join in the taller human's efforts as Keiichi scrambled away on hands and knees as if afraid for his life. Keiichi's cheek bore a swelling red bruise as he snatched up his glasses and hurriedly fitted them back onto his nose. They were badly bent but not broken. As he lurched upright and hurriedly bent to snatch up his wand the young priest turned his back to her and half shrank into the great room peering nervously at Jae as the short male continued to curse at him in multiple languages. All the while Onsen continued to pop and snap in dismay creaking and moaning as she scolded the humans uselessly. Her mothy presence flooded the rafters until the interior darkened and grew heavy with her anxious fluttering.

"Shouldn't we do something?"

Lin glanced back sharply as Natsumi whispered from her elbow. The yuna had crept back into the hall and was flustering at her elbow looking on worriedly. Looking back at the hall Lin considered intervening. But she found it hard to feel sorry for the younger priest. Her insides still boiled and stirred with angry red thoughts. Besides, if she left them alone, Onsen might throw the young priest out. The corners of Lin's lips twitched wickedly.

" _Enough!"_

Suzume thundered from directly behind them making Lin and Natsumi jolt and sidle sideways in surprise. Still looking like a half-drowned ghost in his indigo yukata the fox conjured his usual commanding presence. At the echoing crack of his voice Haku's humans broke apart and cringed like guilty children. Even Onsen lapsed into silence. Striding forward to stand in the middle of the hall the God glowered in exasperation. Suzume jerked as Keiichi turned on him with an enraged expression.

"Tell her to release Kai at once, Suzume sensei!"

Lin uttered a strangled gasp as once again the young priest pointed at her with his wand. The fox's mouth drew into a thin dour line. He stared from the corner of his eyes in surprise at the sight of the wand. Here he glanced at her and the boy in her arms with the lightning flash of his gold eyes. Lin tightened her grip and glared at him challengingly. But the fox's harried attention shot back to the young priest as Keiichi wasn't finished.

"She doesn't belong here, sensei! Ever since these strange Gods came to Kumomi things have gone awry! _Bad things_ follow them! _"_

Bits of spittle flew from his lips as the human raged. Unfortunately she was too angry to see the pain blinding his eyes. Lin's insides seethed under at his accusations even and she stepped in front of Natsumi. As the tiny yuna huddled in the small of her back quaking in terror Lin shied and shuddered in dread as the paper fletching shivered. After everything she'd done for this human she was shocked by how he turned on her so quickly. But that was the way of humans; they were fickle cowardly things. This was a bitter reminder of how easily humans forsook the Gods, blaming them for all the wrongs in the world blind to the fact that Kami suffered just as bitterly at the hands of fate. The commanding persuasion the wand pressed upon her dissolved as Suzume interjected himself between her and the young priest. She stared at his back as the God held out a warding hand, holding the persuasion of the paper at bay speaking in a low voice full of caution and restrained anger.

"Child, lower your wand! You know not what you say or do!"

Lin blinked as she found herself shocked by the fox's restraint. A frenzied gleam shone in the whites of Keiichi's eyes. Grief shredded the young priest voice as he shouted.

"People are _dying_ , sensei!"

Suzume flinched at the shrill despair in Keiichi's choked plea.

"I swear I will stay and assist you in anything you require. Only let Kai go! He's just a little boy! He doesn't belong here!"

For a long moment Suzume held perfectly still. Then she saw him hesitate. Lin was getting good at reading the fox. She watched as slowly, reluctantly, he relented. Lin flinched, startled by his voice as the fox finally muttered her name.

"Hayashimi. Let the boy go."

She growled back hotly knowing she was being irrational. Lin didn't care.

"No."

Without turning to face her the fox barked in exasperation.

"Hayashimi, we do not have time for this!"

Lin cast about trying to find some way to explain what she was feeling deep in her bones blurting truth without realizing what she was doing.

"Kai smells of trees and earth and stones not the sea! He belongs here with us not at that damned Shrine!"

Lin teeth snapped together as she realized with a punch of remorse that was the wrong thing to say. At the insult to his shrine Keiichi railed. As young priest's eyes cut sideways to her he stomped his foot making the floor jolt as words failed him. Then he whipped the wand over his head threateningly. But before he could let it fall Haku's human's tackled him from behind. Again Keiichi tumbled over, buried beneath the full weight of three bodies as his wand and ceremonial hat went clattering across the floor once more. Suzume looked on at a loss as the young priest dropped all decorum and began fighting like a wild animal.

"Let me go, you idiots!" Keiichi shouted, "Get off of me this instant! I said get off!"

Unfazed, the lithe female sprawled across the young priest's middle.

"Hold him down, Kenka! He's stronger than he looks!"

The taller male sat on the Keiichi's kicking feet. Lin snorted finding herself warming up to these humans. Again her mouth quirked as Jae all but sat on Keiichi's chest. Grinning his teeth the male grabbing a handful of Keiichi's front robe and reeled back his fist holding it there as he spat a threat in his face.

"I'm Buddhist but I don't mind _beatin' t'shit outta you_ ; do you get me priest?!"

Continuing to curse Jae shook Keiichi viciously when the threat of violence didn't reach him. Keiichi lapsed back against the floor still and shocked at what Jae snarled next.

"Get your shit together, man! Think about your sister!"

Blinking rapidly and gasping again the young priest's face wiped with terror. Throwing his pale eyes backwards, darting them back and forth between her and Suzume, Keiichi choked on his panic as he blurted his twin's pet name.

"Kiki-chan! Where's Kiki-chan?"

All the humans were looking at them now. All their eyes were the same; pale and gleaming like silver. They were Sen's eyes; eyes that didn't belong to normal humans. Again Lin's jaw tightened to the point of popping as words failed her. Backing away from them as if pushed by the physical force of their uncanny gaze Suzume retreated to her side. The fox was absolutely white as she glanced at him sideways. The burning consternation flickering brightly in his gleaming gold irises spoke volumes even as his silent mouth drew into a thin grim line. At once Keiichi began struggling anew working his mouth in soundless alarm. But before either she or the fox could do anything the elder priest came shuffling through the split curtain with unhurried slowness. The usually foggy elder human was sharp as a blade as he scooted past the dog pile of humans. Coming to stand beside his grandson Goshiro sank to his knees with tremendous effort. Lin shifted uncomfortably not knowing what to do as he bowed with formality.

"I apologize for my grandson rudeness, O-kami-sama. He is a child in your world and he does not understand. Please forgive his presuppositions."

Here Goshiro bowed again low and humble as Keiichi looked on in horror. His grandfather's soft voice cracked like a whip as it delivered a reprimand. And the elder priest never moved from his position of supplication showing the young male his back.

"Put your conceit aside, Keiichi. It has no place here."

The young priest scrambled out from under the other humans to press his forehead to the floor. He cringed and squirmed with every word Goshiro pronounced next.

"You owe your life to these Gods. Or have you forgotten already their service? Do not insult them by assuming they have willingly permitted any of this misfortune from coming to pass."

Slowly the old priest sat back on his heels and Lin didn't know what to think. The human's pale far away eyes remained focused on the ceiling as if seeing through to the sky. Sen got that same look sometimes. It scared Lin stupid. Goshiro frowned deep and solemn as he murmured words Lin barely heard.

"Kai must stay. He will save us all."

Then a violent wind slammed into the side of the house. Lin cringed sideways into Suzume as the sliding doors to the frozen garden exploded inward. Blistering cold raking gales scoured through the great room and invaded the hall. Gusts screamed across the roof as something hurtled by overhead. Lin recoiled from the familiar scent soaking the gales through. Rain: warm summer rain. The ground heaved and rolled as something crashed down from above in the vicinity of the bath wing with an enormous splash. For a long moment no one moved. Onsen jolted in shock as water slapped against the west side of the house, rolling across the roof in a massive deafening deluge that poured from the eastern eve in a solid curtain of torrid steam.

Stunned at first, before she realized it Lin was running again. Turning on her heel still carrying Kai she shouldered between Suzume and Natsumi and made for the bath wing. Water rolled down the connecting hall rippling shin deep through the soaked and torn sliders scattered across the board like swamped moth wings. Glancing sideways she found the interior garden between the main hall and the bath wing was a deep pond of frothy steaming water. Curtains still fell in ebbing sheets from the dripping blue tile eves. Splashing through the flooded interior following the folded path of inward buckled sliding doors, Lin slogged out onto the steam-choked water-logged patio beside the outdoor pool. She could barely see it through the thick hot mists. But when she did she froze finding it was almost empty.

Splashing to its edge Lin peered inside only to come up short. Sen foundered in the waist deep shallows of what had been the pools deep end. Dressed in soaked spider silk armor her phoenix face gleamed through the hot haze. Steaming violently Sen scrambled with something heavy beneath the surface. Snarling in frustration, she whipped upright and threw her hands apart in an expansive motion.

" _Move!"_ She thundered.

Lin shivered as the eerie biting prickle of magic surged up over the lip of the pool. She watched in shock as the water within churned about before it obeyed; splitting and rolling aside; surging up the angled concrete belly of the pool. Lin was forced to retreat as the remaining water almost knocked her over while it heaved up and out of the rotenburo in a knee-deep wave.

"Ah!" Kai squealed, suddenly scrambling in her grip, "No water! No water!"

But the water was gone. All the remained was steaming drips and puddles. And on the bare bottom of the pool Haku sprawled still and low. Staring stupidly for a long moment Lin realized they had fallen from the sky. Without thinking she ignored the wide stone steps and jumped into the empty pool. Her bare feet jarred against the bottom sending a cracking shock of pain up through her knees as she lurched forward into a sprint. Joining Sen in a blink, Lin dropped to her knees at Haku's opposite side watching silently as Sen yanked up his mask to put her ear against his lips.

"He's breathing!"

Another crack splintered her flinty insides in the wild rush of relief. It died as she found herself staring mutely at Haku's shattered breastplate and the broken shaft of the arrow sticking out of his chest. The impact of the bolt had been tremendous enough to cause spidering fractures. These worked their way out from the splintered edges where big pieces had fallen away from the arrow. Cold flooded her chest in spite of the steaming air because if it had hit his right side Haku would be dead. The arrow would've pierced his heart and killed him instantly.

"What happened!?" Lin blurted hoarsely.

"I don't know," Sen bit back hurriedly, "Get Suzume! Get Suzume right now!"

But the fox was already there. Lin skittered sideways as the God folded to his knees in the puddles at her feet without complaint. Suzume bent over Haku disappearing beneath the curtain of his hair. But his pale white hand reached as he barked demandingly.

"Knife!"

Hurriedly setting down Kai Lin produced Umi's blade from her obi and gave it to her husband. Suzume easily sawed through the thick silk bindings on Haku's breastplate. They were already half eroded. As he tossed the plate aside and sliced open the fabric beneath the God's hands came away wet with red. Lin's insides lurched with dismay at the sight of the blood seeping out from around the arrow shaft buried deep in Haku's pale flesh. Unfortunately the hot springs water was useless against the wound as long as the arrow was still in him. It must have gone all the way through because more red was staining the puddle beneath his still body. Grinding her teeth Lin looked away.

"Is he g-gonna be okay?!" Kai stammered tremulously.

Startled Lin looked down at the boy in a loss he seized her hand and pulled insistently. The youngling was white and solemn as his eerie eyes stared at the arrow. She jerked again as Suzume barked again in a low tight voice.

"The child should not see this, Hayashimi!"

Frightened by the hint of panic barely hidden in his growl Lin tightened her fingers on Kai's hand and stood. On shaking legs she towed him up the belly of the pool toward the stone stairs. Here she came up short as Haku's humans spilled down the steps.

 _"Kou!"_

Kenka's shout was sharp with the bright edge of terror as his gray eyes remained fixed on the sight at her back. Lin could taste the fear rolling off of him and it made her sick. Dropping Kai's hand Lin planted her palm in the middle of his chest and shoved the male back as he tried to pass. As he fell Jae and Megumi swooped in from behind to catch him. Confusion, horror, and rare fury darkened the usually good natured human's face. But before he could protest Lin growled at them quellingly, glaring just as viciously until they backed away.

"Give Suzume room to work!"

Then a raging wind surged through the bowl of the pool setting the mists eddying and swirling as it tapered away. Soon after from somewhere in the veil of steam Haku screamed in agony. Kenka rocked as if the sound had hit him physically sobbing as he clasped his hands over his ears.

" _Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"_

Stabbing her finger back at the bath house Lin hurriedly herded the humans ahead of her.

"Go! You don't want to listen to this."

* * *

 **SEN**

Even as her aching head throbbed Sen knew something was wrong. A stab of adrenaline killed the pain as suddenly gnawing gravity pulled on her heavily. Her stomach surged into her throat in a giddy flip as frozen wind screamed in her ears.

"Sen!" Kohaku gasped in her ear faintly, "Help me, Sen!"

Then his arm went slack around her waist he began to drift away from her. All at once they were falling. In a panic she grabbed him as they dropped head-first from the sky. Terror thrilled up into her head momentarily robbing her of sight and thought. Then familiar gleaming blue tiles and a steaming pool of murky green yawned below. But they were approaching way too fast. Magic or no, a broken neck was a broken neck. As her eyes locked on the water Sen didn't have time to think about impossibilities. She shouted at it; willing it with every fiber of her being to do what she wanted.

" _Catch us! CATCH US!"_

It shuddered violently; writhing and churning before it erupted straight up into the air. Sen gasped a breath as in seconds she went from falling to being submerged completely. But she was still falling, eddying and swirling. She plunged downward as if trapped in a drain pipe taking Kohaku with her. Then her back smashed against unyielding concrete and the full weight of the crushing water landed right on top of them. All the air gushed out of her lungs in a gurgling rush as her head nearly split under the pressure. Her singed skin stung and fizzled, smarting where hundreds of heat cracks came into contact with hot water. Panic thrilled up into her head and it felt like she was falling all over again. Panic turned to terror and the coals in the furnace of her heart extinguished, smothered by the hot stinging sulfurous water pouring into her mouth and nose.

 _Get off!_

Sen shouted silently pushing with her will against the burning water.

 _Get off of me!_

Unlike the surf this water obeyed immediately. It heaved back held up in shivering undulating walls by invisible hands as she continued to shove and shoulder it aside physically. Sen staggered to her feet as blessedly the air came rushing in choked with hot steaming spray. She sucked it into her lungs in a rasping heave, blinking to clear her sight only to look up in astonishment at the solid wall of water. It hung over her head three stories tall in a glistening sheet like pale aquamarine glass. Startled she yanked back her hands. It teetered, tilting away from her only to pour down and smash across Onsen's roof with a tremendous crack she felt inside her chest. Some of it came flooding back down over the lip of the outside pool in a frothy deluge swamping her just as she caught sight of Kohaku in the puddles beside her. Thrashing in the sideways current she fought her way through the waist deep water reaching for him. But he was too heavy for her. Frustrated she threw her hands overhead dividing the water with her will once more.

" _Move!"_

It split, surging out of the pool leaving only puddles this time. But she didn't have time to marvel over magic. Sen found Kohaku laid out on the concrete below so very still. Eroding panic sent her to her knees and she dumped down beside him to yank up his mask. His eyes were closed, face like white marble, lips barely parted. Pressing her ear to his mouth she shivered as the weak stir of his breath tickled her cheek.

"He's breathing!"

Sen gasped in relief only to realize Lin was crouched opposite her. Blinking up at her friend in utter surprise she realized Kai was with Lin.

"What happened!?" Lin blurted hoarsely.

"I don't know," Sen bit back hurriedly, "Get Suzume right now!"

Sen recoiled in shock as the fox was suddenly there. At once he bent over Kohaku and the God threw his hand sideways to Lin barking an order.

"Knife!"

Lin set down Kai and produced one from her obi. As the fox cut away Kohaku's breast plate, then the protective cloth beneath, Sen stared in mute horror at the broken arrow fletching planted in the middle of the left half of his chest. For a moment the sapphire jewel gleamed on the pale flash of his bloody skin. Rocking back onto her heels unconsciously she clutched her left shoulder where she'd been shot by the fujo of Oni Rocks. The ghost of agonizing pain and unruly fire rose unbidden in her head and it was too much to think about him feeling similar things.

Without realizing it Sen retreated across the familiar void that yawned between her and the rest of the world. Sucking in a sharp breath for once she didn't begrudge the eerie spreading empty that turned her insides to iron and numbed everything she was feeling. She could stay in control like this otherwise she wasn't sure she was going to be able to handle what was about to come. Sen hardly heard as Suzume muttered something at Lin. She didn't notice as her friend withdrew with Kai. And she held her breath as Suzume gently grasped the broken arrow shaft. Then Haku's green eyes flicked open. Violent wind nearly blew her over as it erupted in the bowl of the empty pool.

"Calm! _Calm, Nigihayami!"_

Planting a hand on his uninjured shoulder Suzume held him down and shouted in his face. Sen joined him, catching Kohaku's arm and holding it tightly. Then the wind evaporated as Kohaku sagged back into the bloody puddles coughing and gasping. Distantly Sen's insides stirred in muted horror as blood stained his white lips red and his green eyes fluttered, not seeing her or anything else.

" _Urami!_ " Kohaku wheezed fitfully.

Sen had never heard that word before. She had no idea what it meant. The fox didn't seem to hear Kohaku. His gold eyes darted like flickering foxfires as he assessed the wound.

"Not good!" Suzume spat with a dour frown, "The arrow pierced his lung!"

"Tell me what to do," Sen demanded in a low iron voice still clutching Kohaku's arm.

"Help me lift him, child, before he drowns in his own blood."

Suzume grabbed Kohaku by the waist and Sen bent to sling his good arm over her shoulders. Together they hauled Kohaku up onto his knees making him utter a strangled moan. His arm tightened around her neck, fingers clutching the shattered plates of her armor. He hung on her heavily panting and struggling for every breath. Caught up in his work the fox muttered to himself.

"This time the arrow went all the way through. That is good."

Silk slithered between her body and Kohaku's as Suzume shucked the remains of the armor back plate. Kohaku shivered as his eyes fluttered open, staring ahead blearily.

"Sen!?"

Kohaku hushed in a panicked whisper. She tightened her fingers on his where they clung to her chest plate. From across the void she struggled to reassure him.

"I'm here," she returned calmly, "Suzume's here too."

Kohaku sighed in relief and his mask crashed against hers. He sagged on her heavily. All the while he fretted feverishly, gasping and fighting for every word.

"Use the bells…"

He struggled to offer her something clutched in the fingers of his injured arm only to drop it. Something jangled on the wet concrete as Sen looked down at the flash of lacquered red. It matched the wet red on his lips. Still Kohaku tried to speak.

"Do not strike it… It will turn back all and more…"

Sen didn't understand a thing he was saying as his words dissolved into gurgling coughs.

"Don't talk," she hushed.

"Indeed," Suzume growled quietly, "Focus on breathing short shallow breaths!"

Kohaku bowed his head as if swooning, giving her a clear glimpse of Suzume as she struggled to keep him upright. The fox was seated behind Kohaku's injured shoulder face was stricken with discord and he glanced at her sideways. And all the way across the void Sen could feel the cold grip of fear.

"Whatever it is, tell me," She instructed in a low even voice.

The God dropped his eyes as his pale brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

"I must remove the arrow and cauterize the wound before I can close it. I cannot begin to describe the pain it will cause."

Sen looked back at him unwavering.

"You've done this before. You can do it again."

Again the God's gold eyes flashed at her sideways but at least this time he seemed encouraged. Sitting up on his knees Suzume took a deep breath and grasped something beyond the periphery of her vision. Sen was glad she couldn't see the tip of the arrow, especially as the fox pronounced the next.

"Ready?"

Gritting her teeth she clutched Kohaku as tightly as she could then nodded. Suzume jerked his arm back and away. In the same moment the protruding bit of the broken shaft disappeared into Kohaku's chest. Bright red spurted out of the gaping hole it left behind. But the blood boiled and turned to ash. A sputtering curl of blue foxfire replaced it in a glowing flash. And Kohaku threw his head back and screamed in agony. The sound of his cry echoed off the empty bowl of the pool, magnifying until it shook inside her very bones.

Sen tumbled sideways as he ripped from her grip, lurching upright only to topple backwards. Suzume's white arms opened wide as the God half stood to catch him. Together they knocked backwards splashing down in the widening puddle forming from the cascade of camphor smelling water pouring out of the spring in the rock wall at the back of the pool. Deftly Suzume let Kohaku slide between his arms and folded knees until the dragon's head was cradled in the crook of the fox's elbow and the rest of his body submerged in the shallows. Even though he hated water hurriedly Suzume dipped his bloody hand into the steaming liquid over and over all the while bathing Kohaku's blackened shoulder. Concentration wiped the fox's handsome face. His gold eyes gleamed like flickering foxfires. One of his pale hands closed over Kohaku's bared chest hiding the ragged wound. A placid blue flame kindled around the God's palm but it didn't burn Kohaku. And then there was something else burning in the God's eyes.

Strange, even as she lingered so far away from feeling, Sen could see emotion so clearly. Compassion suited the fox. It eased the tight angry lines that aged his face, making him look almost human. Sen watched for a long moment where she lay sprawled in the rising water. Looking down, she saw that Okesa's fan was barely floating. She closed her fingers over it moments before it sank under the murky green water. As she did Suzume's burning eyes rounded on her with ferocious intensity.

"Child! Tell me what happen after!"

She barely heard him over the splash of the water gushing through the spring in the back wall of the pool. It was even harder to hear what he said over the bells suddenly ringing inside her head. Suddenly she found herself staring at the broken arrow. It glittered against the concrete wet and red with blood. Sen recognized it after a moment. It was one of Kohaku's arrows. All at once she made sense of what Kohaku had been trying to tell her in a brilliant flash of intuition. Sen lifted a dripping hand to her head as it throbbed suddenly. Memories of the beach flashed distantly against the back of her skull like the flashing shards that dwelled inside Sengen's mirror. Just as distantly she remembered Hidé and Kohaku and Kiri as they'd been that day the last time all four of them had visited the old bay. They'd been wearing swimsuits and had a picnic on the shore like normal humans. Such a normal thing seemed so impossible now. Again the wheel began turning and turning and turning carrying her with it. And the words tumbled out of her mouth with stunning momentum.

"There is something else inside Kiri; not just Garuda. It turned back my bells but three times as strong. It must've turned back Kohaku's arrow too. Hidé called it a tatarigami."

As she appealed to him for answers the fox avoided looking at her. So she bated him back knowing just how to push his buttons.

"Is this what Sengen meant when said Kiri would be a way for evil?"

The fox jolted and slapped his hand against the surface of the water barking furiously.

"Do not speak her name! She will hear you!"

At least she had his attention even if he still refused to look at her. And Sen pumped him for information mercilessly.

"What's a tatarigami?"

Suzume's sharp teeth clicked as they snapped together. Then he spat the words reluctantly, unhappy to reveal his ignorance.

"What makes you think I know these things!?"

Lurching upright out of the steaming water Sen sloshed over to Suzume. She didn't look at Kohaku's face or the bare white expanse of his exposed shoulder. She wasn't sure the void could save her from the emotions that looking would conjure. He'd have another scar after this; one to match hers. The fox looked on with a blank expression as she stooped to invade Kohaku's pockets. Returning the fan she dug her hands in the waterlogged shadows beside his unconscious body and uncovered the treasures hidden there. Riffling through the jumbled mess she pulled the dripping length of the battered umbrella from the murky water. He didn't need it anymore and she did not want to repeat their sky dive ever again. But as Sen tucked the parasol under her arm she caught the glint of Lin's knife on the bottom of the pool.

As she closed her fingers over the hilt Suzume's hand caught her face. Foxfire gently kissed her cheek. It was strangely cold, making her shiver. Startled, Sen looked up sharply as he lifted her chin ever so slowly. The fox had drawn his lips into a thin grim line. All the color drained from him leaving him bleached white and spattered with Kohaku's blood. But Suzume's eyes! They were so on fire with sorrow and shame that Sen felt all the way across the gap she'd forced between her and the worlds. His eyes kept searching and searching her face as if he didn't know how to say the things jumbled up on his parted lips. He tried to speak again and again only to fail. Finally he gave up and sagged in evident exasperation. Heaving a sigh, he traced one of the heat blisters that hadn't healed completely, frowning deeper and deeper until finally it began to melt away beneath his touch. Sen shivered again as magic danced across the surface of her skin. Even though he hadn't spoken a word, Sen heard him.

"This is not your fault."

As if she'd broken some kind of curse, the words that evaded him early tumbled free.

"I should have been with you. I left your side and for that I am ashamed."

It was the closest thing she would ever get to an apology from the God. She covered his hand with her singed glove. Even through the padded cloth his fingers were colder than cold.

"You can't always come with me, Suzume."

Baring his teeth he barked angrily beneath his breath glaring at her with eyes of fire.

"You are mine, Sen! I go where you go!"

His pale white hands slipped to close possessively around her armored wrist. Calmly, quietly, she regarded his hand then looked at him and lied.

"I'm not scared."

Then, strangely, Sen found it wasn't a lie. The water had revived her replacing utter exhaustion with a humming eerie thrilling prickle. It was magic; no doubt soaked up from her surroundings the moment she splashed down. Sen was teeming with it. It dulled the ache in her side and shoulder where the memories of pain still stabbed from time to time where Shurui's spider silk had pierced her side and the fujo's arrow her shoulder. The hum even muffled the throb in her head where she'd knocked her skull on a stone. Just as distant were the bells. She could hear them ringing and ringing in warning beneath the buzzing in her blood. And with the void yawning between her and the rest of the world she felt strangely immune to the distant fear skulking in her heart. Suzume, however, wasn't. The fox was perfectly still and absolutely white as he stared at her in mute astonishment. She'd meant the words to be reassuring, but instead he broke on them. Clutching her wrist tighter he towed her close.

"But I am, child. I am so very afraid!"

His admission was almost a sob. Startled, Sen leaned her cheek against the crown of his head trying to offer him comfort. But it was hard to do that when you were dressed in armor. Finally she pulled back, gently tugging on her arm as still Suzume refused to let her go.

"Stay with him. Don't let him do anything stupid."

As she stood streaming water from the gaps in her armor and steaming like a humidifier, she leaned away until her arm pulled taut. After a long moment the fox let her wrist slip through his fingers more than reluctantly. His hand wavered in the air half reaching for her as Suzume stared up with a stricken expression as if he wanted to do nothing more but follow. But he couldn't, not with Kohaku laid out in his lap. The healing flame around his hand guttered as the God appealed in a hush.

"And what of you, child? As you say, who will keep you from doing something stupid?"

Sen snorted and the corners of her mouth quirked humorlessly. Her expression must've given something away. The fox's worry turned to abject terror as a demand hissed through his sharp teeth.

"What are you planning, Sen?"

And somehow Sen found she couldn't lie. The truth fell from her lips as the bell in her heart tolled ominously.

"I'm going to finish what I started."

She didn't realize she had spoken until Suzume flinched. The strange far away voice didn't sound like hers at all. It was forged of fire and iron and haunted by the ghosts of the dead. As the God's face shattered again he scrambled to grab hold of her. Before he could she opened the umbrella over her head. Sen shot up into the air; up into empty sky; up beyond his reach.


	50. Chapter 50

**LIN**

The tall human was close to hysterics. He was wringing his apron into a wrinkled mess as he knelt on the mats. But every time he tried to get up the shorter male and female shoved him back onto his heels. Seated in the middle of the long black lacquered table with their backs to the hall Jae and Megumi flanked Kenka tightly making it impossible for him to get up. Exasperated and eroding almost transparent with fear the tall human slammed his fists down on the big table and shouted in frustration.

"Kou needs a doctor!"

Seated at the head of the table closest to her Aniyaku loosed a strangled croak as he snatched up his tea before it could spill. Beside him Yoshi and Little Green Frog stirred uncomfortably glancing sideways at the human as if unsure of what to do.

"Suzume-sensei is a doctor," Keiichi muttered hoarsely, "Nigihayami is in good hands."

As Lin's sharp eyes shot to the priest he shrank with red faced embarrassment before going white as his robes. He wouldn't look at her; whether out of shame or contempt she wasn't sure. He and Goshiro were seated in a place of honor at the head of the table and as far from the kami as possible. Why the young priest remained Lin didn't know. He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with them. But in spite of his earlier outburst Natsumi had shown him hospitality. A tray of tea and a chocolate frosted crescent shaped human pastry sat in front of him untouched. Goshiro, however, was smiling dreamily as he sipped his tea. There was a third for Kai but the child wasn't interested in food.

Glancing from the corners of her eyes Lin studied the solemn-faced child. He was tucked up beside her staring unseeing as if asleep on his feet. Crowded close to her other side Hiko and Ginka bundled themselves into a tight knot. Lin was only too happy to glare viciously as she caught Keiichi sneaking a glance at the boy. The priest jumped and went even paler. Vindicated, Lin hunched down and tried to focus on nursing Kokoro. The wiggling kit was carefully pinned between her body and knee half hidden within the folds of her yukata. Lin sighed as the swelling ache in her breasts eased. Hefting the girl gently Lin judged her almost as fat as the boy. Gritting her teeth she turned her thoughts away from the ghosts of sufferings past. There was already too much suffering in the present.

Makoto was wining fitfully in the nook of Nastumi's arms. The yuna paced back and forth along the length of the table fretting silently. Her son didn't appear to enjoy the old yuna's company. Not for the first time Aniyaku glanced back at Lin sullenly. This time he opened his mouth to ask and Lin's blood froze in her veins in anticipation of the question. Natsumi saved her. The old yuna appeared beside the bullfrog standing over him glaring so ferociously Aniyaku gulped audibly. Sputtering indignantly, for a moment it looked like the foreman frog might argue. Then Natusmi stomped her foot. Aniyaku loosed a startled _ribbet_ and as he cowed in confusion Natsumi's subtle eyes darted at Kai with silent meaning. As understanding finally dawned on the frog Natsumi left Aniyaku to simmer in silence. Lin didn't look back as Yoshi and Little Green Frog glanced between her and the foreman frog anxiously. Thankfully they didn't ask either.

None of them, Gods or humans, had asked how Amano had died. He hadn't died. He'd been killed. And for Kai's sake Lin didn't want that known just yet. Sparing her only hand Lin wound her arm around Kai's shoulders. He leaned into her heavily as she pulled him close. Surrounded by children both God and Kami Lin gritted her teeth as one of the flowers snuffled loudly. Suddenly she found herself missing her other arm bitterly. She didn't have enough to comfort them all. A bitter lump of grief rose in Lin's throat. Swallowing with difficulty Lin looked away as her flinty heart gave a palpable crack. As she did Lin caught sight of Usagi. The rabbit darted into the room carrying a bottle of sake and a tray full of cups. Folding up beside the kitchen humans the rabbit hurriedly poured. Jae snorted grimly at the tiny glass she presented timidly.

"That's cute, bunny… Just gimme t'fuckin' bottle…"

Kenka beat him to it. Grabbing the green glass bottle the tall human took one deep pull after another until it seemed he might drain it dry. Then he held it out to Jae. The shorter human drank just as deeply before handing it back. Sighing gustily Megumi took the glass from Usagi as the rabbit gaped between the human males.

"Thanks," the prim female muttered.

Just as grim and silent Yoshi and Little Green Frog scooted over to the human males. They didn't even have to ask. Jae thrust the bottle at them and Yoshi accepted it gratefully. Pouring three cups the silent gardener offered one to Little Green Frog and another to Usagi. Squirming anxiously as she perched on her heels looking like she wanted to run Usagi accepted it hesitantly. Taking his glass finally big fat tears rolled down the frogs cheeks as he downed the glass. As she looked on despair seeped through Lin's insides like a disease making her throat tighten until she wanted to scream. Then the sliding doors leading to the garden ripped open and Onsen gave a rickety jolt as Sen stalked inside.

The doors snicked shut behind her with a bang so loud the floor shook. She appeared so suddenly Lin jerked in surprise knocking back against the wall. Kokoro squawked in protest. Jae seized Kenka and Megumi by the arms and half dragged them upright as Keiichi lurched to his feet in a fright. Shadows milled as the bath house kami materialized against the opposite wall. Lin wondered if they'd fled the heat radiated out of Sen's body. It issued from the nooks and crooks of her body and armor in curling curtains of steam Lin could feel in her lungs as her breath came short and quick.

Sen held Umi's knife by the hilt in one hand and the handle of Haku's battered umbrella in the other. These she secreted away into nothingness at her side in a rare show of magic. Her battle-scared and splintered red-black armor had eroded in places as if eaten by acid. It took Lin a moment to realize that was because the hard black hull was made of spider silk. No matter how hard it had been polished, the stuff couldn't stand up before saltwater. Sen had been doused in it. Beneath the quilted swirls of blue silk of her clothes were caked with sand and bits of dried seaweed. Lin recoiled in horror from the massive monstrous handprint that melted a deep impression into the front of Sen's gorget. It reminded Lin of the similar scar burned into the flesh of Sen's thigh where the Forgotten had cursed her.

" _S-shit!"_ Jae swore hoarsely, making Onsen give a sullen pop, "Is that you, Chihiro?"

The humans shrank from her apprehensively and Lin sympathized. The blood-stained, line-etched face of the woman beneath the phoenix face was cold, hard, and made of fight. There was nothing left of the awkward, frightened, innocent human child Lin had met at Yubaba's bath house. Staring up at her in a loss, Lin muttered beneath her breath morosely.

"Girl. You _have_ gone hard."

Struggling in Jae's grip Kenka appealed to her hurriedly.

"How's Kou!?"

Kenka flinched from the sound of her voice as even it had an edge.

"Alive. I intend to keep him that way."

Even Sen's quicksilver eyes were strange sharp as they cut over them swiftly as if taking roll. She barked commandingly sounding just like Suzume.

"Get up. Leave everything. You're getting out of here."

At the words Onsen rattled again from her foundations to the roof in such a violent shudder dust filtered from the ceiling. The house flooded the rafters with the heavy invisible pressure of her presence. Her palpable misery darkened the interior as if a storm were about to break outside. The wood panels of the walls stretched and warped, moaning and creaking as the tatami mats quaked and shivered. Bracing her back against the rattling wall Lin shoved herself upright dragging Kai with her only to take back her arm to clutch Kokoro. The kit was struggling inside her yukata squalling lightly. Lin came up short as at once the sliding doors to the great room snapped shut and dissolved sealing them inside and plunging the interior into darkness.

"W-what _t'fuck_ …!? Where'd the doors go!?"

Jae cursed in a shrill frightened voice. With her keen eyes Lin saw prim-faced Megumi catch the males by their arms and tow them close. She could taste the thick electric bite of human terror on the tip of her tongue. Keiichi collapsed beside his grandfather as the old human sat there serenely, unfazed by the dark. But the gloom retreated in writhing shifting blades of shadow as white fire climbed up around Sen's shoulders making her into a candle. Gods and human's alike gasped in surprise as the light appeared. For a moment Lin was seized by the urge to smother the flames. But then she realized the fire belonged to Sen. The fire was nothing like the feral red flames that had nearly run rampant in Chihiro's control. That made them all the more frightening. Obviously annoyed by the house's reaction, Sen was glaring at the still creaking ceiling not in the least disturbed by the fact that she was on fire. White with shock, Natsumi scooted forward bowing uncertainly as Makoto squalled in her arms loudly.

"But we can't go, Miss Sen! We need to clean and prepare for the funeral and… and…?"

As words failed the yuna, Aniyaku shuffled forward bowing hurriedly almost losing his hat.

"Indeed. We have guests arriving on the morrow. Would you have us not attend them?"

Fleet and spry the flowers bloomed beside them.

"We don't want to leave Onsen, Miss Sen!"

Hiko began tremulously as Ginka finished.

"She doesn't want us to go either!"

Darting around Aniyaku Little Green Frog chipped anxiously.

"I know you must have a reason, miss, but whatever it is we'll stay and help."

Usagi nodded tremulously, still clinging to Yoshi.

"One against many is better odds, Miss Sen."

The gardener nodded firmly, stammering with uncharacteristic vehemence.

"We c-ccc-can f-f-fight. We've f-f-fought g-g-gak-ki bef-f-fore."

Pushing away from the wall Lin came to stand in front of the bath house kami holding Makoto tightly. Kai followed close in her shadow still clinging to her empty yukata sleeve. Not without a twinge of apprehension Lin searched Sen's face trying to find anything of the human girl she'd known. Trusting that she was in there somewhere Lin snorted and chided the steel-eyed stranger as if she was still the sulky frightened human child Lin had apprenticed back at Aburaya.

"We're not going anywhere, you dope."

Sen's lips quirked and a lick of warmth brought feeling back into her eerie eyes. For a moment Lin recognized that smile and hope kindled in her flinty heart. But then Lin's voice dried up and she was left staring as Sen became entirely Godish. The halo of white flames tossing her hair intensified, making the phoenix mask perched on her brow gleam and glimmer. Just as bright Sen's eyes flashed like mirrors in the dark. They turned far away, reflecting cold pale fire as she stared off into something Lin couldn't see. As she did Sen's voice took on a knife's edge that cut Lin deeply and made her bleed terror.

"I know what's coming, Lin. I want you all as far away from it as possible."

Before Lin could do or say anything bells rang clamorously in the dark. Furling her arm up over her head Sen spun lightly on the balls of her toes. For a moment Lin was struck by how gracefully Sen moved. It was a little surreal; Chihiro had been a major klutz. Then a rainbow followed in Sen's wake unfurling from her side. It cracked firm as thunder as she whipped her arm down. Bells shrieked in a chorus of reverberating gold glinting in droves on the red handle in her hand. The house shuddered violently as doors ripped open in what had been a solid wall. Swinging the handle again, making the furling rainbow follow, Sen made a beckoning motion. With a gasp Lin lurched as an invisible hand closed in her stomach. The bath house kami shied with similar cries as Sen's fire extinguished.

"No!" Kai cried tremulously, "Don't go!"

Strangely immune to the bells he pulled on her sleeve trying to anchor her in place. It ripped through his fingers as Keiichi darted forward to catch the youngling holding him back even as he struggled. There was nothing Lin could do but follow Sen as she marched into the hall. The bells were ringing and ringing commandingly. Lin couldn't even hear Makoto or Kokoro crying over them. Clutching her daughter Lin tried to shout and scream but couldn't. She tried to rip herself free from the hand in her chest but it held like an iron vice. Like a puppet on strings she paraded behind Sen through the kitchen split curtain. The back slider yanked opened as Sen rang her bells at it only to whirl away. Beyond the archway was another world and one Lin recognized immediately. The burned blistered bulk of the shattered sentinel pine still lay at the foot of the broken bridge. Distantly the stink of smoke rolled across the threshold making Lin instantly nauseous.

 _No! No! No!_ Lin shrieked silently. _You stupid, stupid girl!_

Then more bells screamed in the kitchen. They obliterated the persuasive rhythm of Sen's song. Lin stared in shock as Sen arched backwards as if something had cut her feet out from under her. The floor rocked with the impact of her body as she smashed down onto the braided rug by the sink beneath the power of a new melody. Under its direction the back door yanked shut only to haul back open. At an absolute loss Lin lurched out into the chilly air of the icy back porch only to whirl as the directing hand dissolved from inside her chest. Kokoro continued to squall unhappily and Lin came up short on the threshold. Frightened kami scrambled and flailed as the house's phantom hands shoved and secreted them into hiding places all throughout the shadows of the kitchen. And Onsen erupted into a loudly scolding white fire in the old hearth billowing and crackling furiously casting all kinds of monstrous shadows through the gloomy interior.

Standing on the threshold ready to run at any moment Lin looked down in grim silence. At her feet Sen fought with tremendous effort against persuasive bellsong. It crushed her to the blue green tiles. Straining and quaking, Sen managed to push herself up onto hands and knees. Her phoenix mask was perched on her brow revealing Sen's blistering expression of fury. Her quicksilver eyes flashed up to the landing leading to the front hall. Sharp as knives, they watched cautiously. Furling and flashing the red gold fan, Megumi floated down the stairs like a bit of dandelion fluff. The second female floated with grace that bordered on Godishness. Still wearing the uniform of a double-breasted white coat, trim black trousers, and flour dusted apron, Megumi looked completely at odds with her surroundings. She was too human. But then as she lifted up onto the tips of her bare toes and transformed becoming so much more as she danced. Wafting the fan downward in grand sweeping motions the gold bell toned in perfect time. As she did Megumi bit off a scornful reprimand.

"We didn't get a choice last time so you don't get to decide for us this time."

Sen's elbows buckled. As if forced by invisible hands she was forced to bow on the floor. The lithe female leapt down from where shed perched on the bottom step only to land still perfectly poised again on her toe tips as if immune to gravity. Sweeping her other leg backwards and lifting it impossibly high the human spread her arms like a bird. Lin half expected her to float off the floor. She'd never seen dancing like this and she stared in fascination, shivering with a strange feeling of awe as Megumi whirled tirelessly. And with every light leap and elongated reach she mercilessly ground Sen into the tiles. The other kami crept from their hiding placed to watch in similar enchantment. Natsumi, Hiko, and Ginka peered from under the pantry curtain as Makoto squalled half-heartedly in the old Yuna's arms. Yoshi and Usagi crept back down the back stair to perch on the bottom step as Aniyaku and Little Green Frog emerged from under the table. Oblivious to her audience Megumi kept dancing. Striking another elongating pose the other female rang and flourished her fan. Still scrambling to throw off the bellsong Sen shouted in abject frustration.

"We don't have time for this, Megumi!"

Without hesitation the second female shouted back. Her breath came short and quick and hot.

"Then stop being an overbearing _bitch_ and let us help!"

Whipping upright and spinning away on the tips of her unyielding toes the other female jumped so suddenly Lin blinked in surprise. Megumi lifted off the ground to an impossible height kicking her legs perpendicular in opposite directions extending her arms like wings. She sailed through the air weightless as Haku when he danced landing all the way across the kitchen by the telephone nook. But then the spell broke reminding Lin Megumi was just a human. The female's ankle wobbled as she landed. The carefully woven rhythm of her bellsong faltered if only for a moment. That moment was all Sen needed.

Sen tucked sideways into a roll only to rocket up onto her feet whipping her body around. The movements weren't nearly as refined or pretty as Megumi's. But they were trim, fast, and devastatingly strong. The furling ribbons on the red lacquered haft cracked like thunder as she lashed out with a screaming chorus of bells. Caught from behind, Megumi lurched forward and smashed into the wall with a strangled cry. The racks of dishes clattered under the jolt of her impact and in the old hearth Onsen guttered and shrank in shock. Megumi flattened there pinned by the insistent shrill jangling that made Lin's insides lurch in sympathy. Sen flicked her suzu back and forth in a heavy compelling pace. As she did Sen dismissed the second female's demand like it was impossible.

"You're human, Megumi! You have no idea what you're asking!"

Lin might have agreed, but she wasn't so sure anymore, not after seeing Megumi dance. As if the bells were on her again, Lin stood there staring not sure what to do. She'd never before seen humans fight like Kami. It was eerie to see them bend bellsong with such ease. Not every God could do that with such finesse. Not entirely sure who she was rooting for Lin looked on in silence grinding her teeth. Anxiously Lin continued patting and patting Kokoro until the kit began squalling softly. And even though Megumi was pinned against the wall the other female laughed scathingly.

"And you're not!?"

A red hot flash of anger crackled across Sen's face as the words touched a raw chord somewhere beneath her iron hull. A blast of heat rocked the kitchen as Sen's temper snapped. Violent licks of white fire kindled in the corners of her eyes as she slashed her suzu high over her head. Megumi gasped as her feet left the floor. She dropped her fan scrambling uselessly as she skidded up the wall to hang there immobilized by unrelenting bellsong. The electric edge of fear brightened Megumi's round gray eyes as she glanced backwards over her shoulder at Sen. Unmoved by the terror in the other female's face she circled her suzu slowly making the bells hum a rolling chime. But Sen back-peddled still circling her bells but never breaking time as another human launched off the front hall landing.

It was the smaller male with the foul mouth. Forsaking the steps Jae jumped and landed with a solid thud on the blue green tiles only to skid and spin as he stooped to snatch up the fan Megumi dropped. Springing up onto his toes just as swift and agile as Megumi, the male bobbed forward on a short hop angling his body to side jauntily before lifting his chin and the fan. But as he flicked the furled edge, making the bell chime firmly, Sen folded only to heave herself up. Lin's mouth fell open as Sen shrugged out from under the commanding tone with brute strength even as she kept circling and circling her bells. Shocked, Jae froze before jerking and skittering in surprise as Megumi slammed a clenched fist against the wall behind him.

"Stay out of this, Jae! I don't need your help!"

Jae laughed incredulously, never taking his eyes off of Sen.

" _Man!_ You two are so full o' shit!"

Onsen popped and chittered, but it wasn't a chiding sound. Jae pointed with the fan as his light eyes turned serious.

"Let 'er down, Chihiro."

Sen gritted her teeth as exasperation fluxed her unnatural calm.

"My name isn't Chihiro!"

In the same second her sounding suzu slapped sideways. Jae gasped in panic as he lurched forward lifting onto his toes ensnared by song. Then the male did the strangest thing Lin had ever seen. Jae rose further onto his toes and almost seemed to unhook himself from the bells. As he moved in broken undulating jerks the tolling persuasion seemed to distribute through each and every one of his joints as if they were acting of their own accord and moving independently. Shifting his body backwards and down in more gyrating syncopated jerks that were strangely beautiful he deflected the blow entirely letting it roll through him and out of his undulating hands and feet as he glided in place.

Sen's pattern broke as she gawked. In that same second Megumi arched backwards off the wall in a move so flexible Lin found herself blinking. As if anticipating this Jae skidded sideways tossing the fan high as the female peeled off the wall into a handstand. Springing forwards cantilevering her body back upright Megumi whipped around only to catch the fan with expert precision. As she did she whirled on her toes in a tight swift revolution. Ghosting back beside her Jae caught the female by the waist supporting her as they moved forward together. As she came full circle Megumi slashed her fan sideways in a powerfully ringing stroke that extended father and farther as she threw herself away in a sweeping full-bodied gesture. Jae followed, anchoring her firmly, arching his lean frame. They flowed sinuously like one body and one mind. Together they caught Sen completely off guard.

The blow of the bell took her so viciously she spun mid-air like a top. Crashing sideways she lurched toward the nook. Little Green Frog and Aniyaku scrambled for cover. Sen careened toward a bad landing that would no doubt shatter both benches and bones. And Lin reached in a panic with a phantom hand to break Sen's fall. But that hand wasn't real. Then a burst of air erupted in the close confines of the kitchen. Before Sen could smash down onto the bench she bounced off the invisible coils of the whipping gale, cartwheeling high, arching with deft control only to land atop the table firmly planted on her feet. It didn't so much as jolt as she touched down. Alarmed, Lin cast about for Kohaku only to blink because the air smelled nothing like rain. It took Lin a moment to realize Sen had summoned the wind herself.

Onsen guttered again in the fireplace as the coursing gale blew around the room. It was hot and dry smelling strongly of camphor. Lin cringed from its heat holding Kokoro close as it tore by and fled out the back door. Breathing heavily Jae and Megumi stared incredulously back and forth between Sen and the place Sen should've landed. The feral fingers of wind had torn down the prim female's tightly wrapped bun making her look unhinged as her hair billowed wildly. Catching Megumi close in the bow of his arms Jae's mouth fell open. He swore explosively under his breath.

" _Fuck…! Fuck, fuck, fuck…!"_

There was no feeling in Sen's face as she straightened and turned on them slowly. Her silver eyes were blades as she pronounced the next with chilling certainty.

"I'm not human. Neither is what's coming for us."

For a moment Jae and Megumi shrank from her in blank terror. Then, blinking rapidly, the second female recovered. Glaring contemptuously, she lifted her chin challengingly.

"I don't care what you are! You can't be _that_ strong! Even Gods need help!"

Lifting her fan the female pointed it again as if signaling she was ready to fight some more. Sen stomped her foot in utter exasperation making the table boom like a drum. Aniyaku squealed where he cringed beneath his hands under the table. Yoshi and Usagi fled up the stairs and Natsumi and the flowers disappeared into pantry shadows as Sen pointed at the back door shouting at all of them now.

"That's why you have to go! I'm not strong enough to keep you safe!"

Sen was pleading now as stark terror corroded the iron in her. Her voice cracked as it went shrill and her pointing finger began to shake. All the while the red-gold face of the phoenix perched on her forehead gleamed ominously.

"Go so I can make sure you have something to come home to!"

In the stunning silence that followed Kenka pushed through the split curtain hunched and gripping his chest as if it hurt. The taller male looked faint like he might pass out. He clutched the railing gaunt and grim with apprehension Lin could taste all the way across the room. Lin hated the smell of human terror. It tasted much too much like God fear. Still staring away off into nothing Kenka whispered so softly Lin barely heard him.

"And what if you're not here when we get back?"

As she stared at Kenka sideways Sen blinked and tempered back to cold iron. Then she produced a dour promise.

"Onsen will still be your home even if I'm not here."

Lin hated the words instantly. They set her blood boiling and made her see the reddest red. Snarling furiously Lin stormed inside and slammed the slider behind her so aggressively Onsen rattled from the floor to the ceiling in surprise. At once Kokoro began crying loudly as the sound startled her. The kit cried louder still as Lin held her close and shouted at Sen from the top of her lungs what the bells preventing her from voicing earlier.

"You stupid, stupid girl! I am so angry with you!"

Startled by her outburst Sen shrank as Lin stormed over to stand at the lip of the table. The fingers of her phantom arm still twitched and burned with the need to get a hold on her. But she only had one hand and with it Lin clutched her daughter. Annoyed by the distance between them Lin kicked the bench making it skitter and shiver. Beneath the table both Little Green Frog and Aniyaku whimpered in terror. As Kokoro continued to wail Lin shouted some more trying to grab a hold of Sen with words instead.

"Do you know how long we've waited for you!? Do you have any idea what we've gone through to get back here to you!? So don't you _ever_ try to send us away again! Don't you _ever_ try to fight by yourself again! Or, _so help me you dope_ , you'll have to rip off my other arm to get me to let go of you!"

Sen jerked violently at that. Her face wiped blank as the edge of her steel eyes grazed sideways to Lin's empty sleeve. Then, slowly at first, the edge of resistance in her hard frame softened. Drawing her lips into a grim line that reminded Lin of Suzume Sen finally nodded. And Lin heaved a great big sigh as her knees shook for a moment. Then she nodded as well, patting Kokoro absently trying to get the wailing kit to calm.

"Good! No get down here, give me back my knife, and tell me what to do!"

* * *

 **HAKU**

He was floating in an empty dark sky. The layer of misting clouds at his back held him weightlessly suspended. And a soothing ember perched on his shoulder. He dreamed it to be a flickering star of crackling iridescent blue. As it danced on his bare skin tingling warmth flowed through his entire body. It eased the needling pain vibrating in his bones and blood, slowly picking out the stabbing tangled knot of agony balled up in his chest. It was a pleasant sensation as he was so terribly tired. But even as he began to drift back into oblivion, Haku found himself increasingly troubled by the star as it was not truly a star. He could not remember why. Whatever the reason, it remained beyond his reach. Stubbornly he pursued it, growing heavier and heavier with a mounting dread as the mist at his back dissolved and the ebony veil hanging above him dissipated as if dawn was approaching.

Haku's eyelids fluttered, letting stabbing shards of daylight invade as he twitched involuntarily hovering on the edge of consciousness. Then he gasped as sound roared its way back into his ringing ears. Water swished all around him, eddying and lapping at the edges of his body. And inside his head he saw the snarling wall of muddy gray sea water once more. It came crashing through the trees towering over his head ready to crush him. But iron chains held him firmly as he tried to flee into the sky. Towing on him like anchors, they held him down in the water as he thrashed in water in a panic. Then fox shouted in his ear so close and loud Haku startled to stillness.

"Nigihayami, stop!"

Blinking rapidly to clear the swallowing gray sparklers from his vision Haku realized the tsunami he had conjured was little more than waist deep water. It was boiling hot and smelled strongly of camphor not salt spreading away in a murky green mirror obscured by thick hot mists that swirled in the wind of his apprehension. Silent and eerie blue foxfires ghosted overhead illuminating the gloomy world in pale blue light. Feebly his gauntleted hands still pulled at the chains around his waist only to realize they were pale white arms.

"Suzume!?" Haku choked shrilly.

"It is I, you fool!" The fox growled irritably in his ear, "Whom else would it be?"

But as Haku pulled in gasp after gasp, again icy panic surged in his blood. Fruitlessly his breath entered and left his lungs as if the very air had abandoned him. His chest felt full already and fit of coughing seized him. Thick copper tasting phlegm escaped into his mouth making him gag on nausea. Then Haku spat a bright red blotch of blood into his hand. He froze staring at the glistening red as the entire world came to stillness.

"There is blood! _There is blood!"_

Eroding gray was gnawing at the edges of his vision and the adrenaline that had sustained him before dissipated. As his burning chest heaved his voice cracked in terror pitching up an octave as again he seized the fox's wrists afraid he might float away again.

" _Suzume, I cannot breathe!"_

Teetering on the edge of a swoon Haku sagged as all strength fled him. But then the fox bore him up from behind. The frozen bar of his arm tightened, supporting him as the back of Haku's head knocked against Suzume's shoulder.

"Calm! You must find calm!"

It was not the first time the fox had counseled him thus. But never could Haku remember Suzume being so temperate. It startled him from gripping terror permitting him to do as the God bid.

"Breathe slow and shallow. Slow. Shallow."

As he did Haku's breath began to catch again on the unnerving sense of fullness in the depths of his chest. Panic rose like bile in his throat as the urge to cough tightened his too small chest bringing with it the terrible taste of blood. The wheezing breath gurgled and popped turning to a sob as Haku fought the urge to be sick. At once Suzume's arm tightened making Haku jerk in surprise as the fox pulled him closer. Suzume hushed hurriedly in his ear. He was so close the God's lips whispered against his cheek making him shiver violently. But the fox's golden tenor was soft and low with palliative confidence.

"Listen to me, Nigihayami. The arrow is gone but it pierced one of your lungs. It has left behind more blood than I realized. It cannot remain but should you try to hack it up you will undo my work."

At once Haku's teeth snapped together. He ground them against the screaming urge to cough as the fox continued quietly.

"I can clear the blood but you must hold perfectly still. Do you trust me to do this?"

Haku nodded faintly as again he found himself bobbing on a wave of dizziness. He almost jerked as one of Suzume's hands flattened across the bare skin of his sternum. But remembering what the fox had asked of him he barely managed to hold still. Somehow his armor and the padded gambeson below were gone leaving him complete exposed to the blazing fire that erupted around the God's palm. Tremendous heat radiated from the fox's fingers at the same time twice as cold. Foxfire blazed brightly as it struggled between them. But it did not burn even as its frozen fire continued to seep through his skin until his chest was full of humming teeming sparkling magic.

"Breathe in and hold!" Suzume commanded.

Haku obeyed fighting against the nauseating fullness to drag in and keep the long deep breath. Then a flash of icy pain ignited like a sparking flint inside his chest as again the fox barked.

"Breathe out!"

Haku could not have done anything but as his chest swelled to the point of bursting. Sapphire foxfire rushed across his lips. It gushed from him in great curling gouts of blue snapping embers and smoke. Astonished and frightened Haku seized Suzume's other arm where it held tight at his waist. The fox winced as out and out and out Haku blew his breath until there was none left but a wheezing rasping rattle. Rocking back against Suzume's shoulder Haku turned up his face and heaved in a gasp so long that seemed to fill his entire body. Suddenly his lungs opened letting sweet torrid air come rushing inside. His mouth was utterly parched and it felt like the inside of his chest was scorched but Haku cared not. His world narrowed to the shuddering breaths he drew in and out insatiably.

"Good. Again. And again."

Suzume instructed encouragingly.

"Thank you…" Haku wheezed out the words faintly, "Thank you…"

The fox snorted reminding Haku of Lin for a moment.

"Save your breath. You need it more than I require gratitude."

Haku barely heard the fox as he sagged back into the crook of Suzume's arm. Utterly spent he could do nothing more but hang there with steaming water lapping at his back and waist. From his half cracked eyes Haku watched distantly as the flames licking the hand the God held still pressed to his chest dwindled small. Slowly Haku realized it was white. Gone was the black stain Sengen had afflicted upon the fox as punishment for trying to remove Chihiro's forgetful curse. At the thought of her panic thrilled through his very veins like acid. Casting about peering into the steam Haku called for her.

"Sen! Where is Sen!?"

Suzume cringed as water frothed and splashed around them. Hastily he spit angry truth.

"She took your umbrella and flew away."

At that Haku struggled to stand blinded by a flash white bright terror.

"Be still!" Suzume boomed ferociously, "Be still or you will tear yourself open again!

Half rolling onto him the fox submerged him in the water pinning him to the bottom. Haku gasped straining to keep his face above the steaming surface. As he did Suzume's face hovered inches from his as the God bared his sharp, sharp teeth.

"Idiot! I did not tell Sen for fear of frightening her, but I have no qualms about frightening you!"

Suzume's gold eyes were incandescent with terror in spite of his rage. Roughly the fox grabbed his chin and forced him to look him right in the eyes.

"You nearly _died_ , Nigihayami! I can knit your bones and your flesh, but your body is far more fragile that you realize. I cannot keep putting you back together in haste without consequences. This injury was dire and you will need time to recover."

As Haku stared he realized there was blood spattered the fox's gaunt cheeks. It took him a moment to realize it was his blood. Inside his mind he saw more blood; blood on the floor of Amano's house; blood plastering the male's white shirt to his still chest; blood on the arrow protruding from Haku's chest; flecks of blood spattered on the tatarigami's pale cheeks. Sick with nausea and grief Haku absently reached for the shattered fletching of the arrow. But it was not there. He lapsed into stillness with the water lapping around his face as the worst or his fears slipped across his lips in a thick whisper.

"But, Sen…?"

The God barked a short humorless laugh.

"Sen is made of iron just as Hayashimi is made of stone! Give our women their due! Do not be foolish to think they are _always_ in need our help!"

Haku had no answer for that as the fox continued to growl at him.

"You, however, are in desperate need of mine."

He did not resist as Suzume let him up, carefully reclaiming him into the crook of his elbow. Supported once more above the surface of the water on the fox's knee Haku's face burned with embarrassment as Suzume planted his frozen palm over his bare chest. Licking blades of pale blue foxfire fizzled on his wet skin. Haku flinched as again the eerie spreading warmth soaked through his flesh right into the tightly knotted agony that had begun to bloom there. He heaved a sigh, sagging as the pain subsided. He was half asleep without realizing it. Then the fox's fingers swept sideways to brush one of the many spider bite scars that riddled his flesh.

Hot discomfort prickled across his skin reminding Haku that he was near naked from the waist up. More heat flooded his face with as his eyes snapped open. Without realizing it he caught the fox's wrist with his right hand. Before he could glare and rudely shove it away Haku also caught sight of Suzume's face from the corners of his eyes. The fox had bleached of all color. His inky hair had turned to spider silk. Beneath the misted curtain his face was blank, mouth drawn into the grimmest of thin lines as his gold eyes gleamed with horror. They remained fixed on the scars as Suzume hushed.

"I did not realize you carried so many. You must have fought hard to be been bitten this much."

Startled and unbalanced by the God's pronouncement Haku looked away as a painful lump rose in his throat. Staring into the swirling steam clouding the shallows of the empty rotenburo he tried not to see trundling black bodies crawling through the horrors in his head. Haku was forced to blink rapidly against the searing burn of tears that suddenly afflicted his eyes. But the fox was not finished yet.

"Do you remember what you said to me by the hearth that night at Aburaya?"

Haku's lashes fluttered rapidly as he found himself so confused he did not trust himself to answer. Suzume, however, did not seem to need a reply. Again the God's voice had gone strangely neutral. He almost seemed concerned.

"I no longer abide by you, Nigihayami. Things between you and I are different."

Here Suzume circled his pure white hand free of his grip. As he did he caught his hand and turned it upright and open. Then the God touched the tip of Haku's index finger as if seeing right to what lay hidden inside.

"That is why you will tell me what this means."

Haku's breath froze on his lips as the elation he felt for a moment was replaced by shock. He jerked his hand away and plunged it beneath the water as it to hide it. Trying not to be curt Haku answered the questions with a question as he faced burned.

"Do we not have more pressing concerns, Suzume-san?"

Again the fox snorted humorlessly. Haku did everything in his power not to meet Suzume's heavy gaze. It weighted on the side of his face unwaveringly.

"Indeed. Do not, however, think that this conversation is over."

Haku cringed from the firm promise in the God's rejoinder. Suzume's light touch ghosted back to the place where the arrow had been.

"How is the pain?"

Haku gritted a reply through his teeth.

"Better."

The fox was suspect.

"Is that truth?"

Haku nodded sharply not trusting himself to speak because he was not entirely sure.

"Good. That means you are strong enough to forego the water."

Suzume helped Haku sit onto his knees. The fox's fleet frozen fingers were surprisingly gentle. All the same Haku nearly fell face first into the water he was so weak. Wondering why the water was not boiling around him his face scalded with embarrassment. Haku waited in silence as Suzume cautiously took back his hands only for a moment to adjust his water-logged yukata. Glancing at him furtively Haku was shocked to see the fox in one of Onsen's uniforms. The indigo hue did not suit him. Fitting himself beside him carefully Suzume threaded Haku's good arm across his shoulders. Tightening his other arm around his waist the God stood carrying Haku with him. Bloody water and gouts of steam poured off of them into the shallows. And in spite of all his efforts a stifled moan hissed through Haku's teeth as again agony lanced through his chest. Suzume hesitated as Haku's knees trembled violently making his lacquered skirt guard clatter and quake.

"You are a terrible liar, Nigihayami," The fox muttered dourly.

It was strange to hear his true name on the God's lips. Suzume had rudely referred to him as _dragon_ for so long. It was odd to hear himself named otherwise by the fox. For a moment Haku feared Suzume might lay him back out in the water. Gripping the back of the God's yukata Haku dragged him forward a step. As they foundered in the shallows Suzume uttered a shrill yip.

"Do not splash!" He decried, "I am wet enough and I _abhor_ being wet!"

Haku snorted humorlessly as he urged them on.

"Just get me inside…"


	51. Chapter 51

**HAKU**

As they waded out of the shallows and up the black concrete belly of the empty pool each step brought a wave of pain. By the time they had reached the steps leading to the patio the torrid veil of fog had peeled back leaving him exposed beneath the frigid brooding sky. Beyond the warmth of the main hot spring the puddles had already begun to freeze. It was a little past noon but already it seemed as if dusk was falling. A thin finger of bare blue sky remained on the distant horizon as black, black clouds blew in from the ocean hanging so low he half wondered if he could reach up and touch them. The air smelled strongly of snow. His quick breath bloomed on his lips in a frost plume as his naked skin shivered violently. Haku hung on Suzume almost doubled over in pain clutching his left arm to his chest. They paused at the base of the steps so Haku could catch his breath. His lungs were no longer full of blood but he found himself gasping all the same.

"I should return you to the water."

The hint of pity in the God's voice sparked a flash of fury in Haku's heart. For a moment anger belied his terror.

"No!"

The fox startled at his shout and Haku hastily tempered.

"We are running out of time. It will be here soon and I wish to rejoin the others."

He half expected Suzume to snorted in exasperation and chide him for being stubborn. He was not prepared for the God to hoist him from the ground. Hurriedly he carried him up the stairs. Pale and grim the fox dragged him into the flooded interior of the men's changing room. At once Onsen's anxious mothy presence darkened the rafters. Haku startled as the sliding doors leading to the patio skittered shut without being touched. The radiator along the wall clunked and hissed as it turned on flooding the room with steam as Suzume lowered him to a seat on the bench. The house's disembodied presence circled directly over their heads growing darker and heavier until the beams creaked and moaned. Ignoring the haunted ceiling skirting the puddles on the tiled floor Suzume retreated across the room. Glad for the distance and the modicum of privacy it afforded him, Haku steeled himself to shuck the remnants of his armor one handed.

Carefully he tugged free the sleeve guard ties at his neck, gingerly peeling the gauntlet off his left arm. Pulling the gloved tips from his fingers with his teeth, Haku shed his right gauntlet as well. The skin beneath was wrinkled and clammy with waterlog. Still pressing his injured arm to his chest to avoid working the muscles of his shoulder, unbuckling his sword belt was easier that he thought it would be one handed. Slipping his mask from his brow and shivering out from under his soggy tatter cloak, he set the dragon face beside Hanoane before slinging the dripping length of shadow across the bench. Next he shrugged out of the slashed remains of his gambeson. Tugging the shreds from his waist band, he dropped the remains on the floor. But he was thwarted by the ties on his hip skirt.

They snarled into an impenetrable knot as he tugged on them. Holding the scabbard between his knees, he cut them with an inch of Hanoane's exposed edge. They were useless anyways, nearly crumbling thanks to more than a kiss of strange green fire. As they clattered to the floor Haku gingerly bent to tug loose the lacings of his shin guards and sandals, worming his feet out of crumbling tabi that were mostly ash. Here he blinked frowning at the jewel hanging around his neck gleamed. For a long while he had forgotten it was there. That made him most angry. Closing his good hand over the frozen chain he yanked irritably only to wince.

"How did you come by that?"

Glancing up he found the fox staring askance at the jewel more than unnerved.

" _He_ insists I keep it," Haku muttered sullenly, "I cannot take it off. He will not permit it."

Suzume snorted, knowing exactly to whom Haku was referring.

"After all that has happened, you still quarrel?"

Haku nodded grimly, not wanting to admit he harbored resentment toward Hidé.

"I am forever at odds with the sea. I suppose it is in my nature."

Letting the jewel drop, feeling utterly naked without armor as he found himself bare from waist to ankle save the damp close fitting trousers tightly bound to his middle, he stood with difficulty. Shuffling like an old man to the cabinet where the clean yukata were kept Haku was glad that Suzume had not come to help him. He was not sure he could survive any more shame. Foregoing one of the longer robes that would involve an obi, Haku selected the indigo blue top of a jinbei (1). The interior of the storage board smelled strongly of the thick cedar and camphor plank lining. He lingered in front of the cabinet breathing the soothing scents as Onsen continued to fret over his head.

"It is alright," He murmured quietly while placing a consoling hand on the wall.

But it was not alright. It had never been alright. It would never be alright. All the same, he lied for her benefit. Onsen gave a sullen pop and settled somewhat. Silent and pale as a ghost the God paced the wall of sinks coiling tighter and tighter until Haku could feel the God's anxiety palpably. Still clinging to the cabinet door Haku watched him silently. A single foxfire flickered above his head guttering as it betrayed the fox's turmoil. Loathe to be left behind it darted to catch up each time Suzume turned on his heel. Back and forth he paced like a trapped animal bleaching paler and paler. And a wind kicked up in the God's wake as he continued anxiously. Haku did not startle as suddenly bitter words sprang out of the God like a sprung trap.

"I brought Goshiro, Keiichi, and Kai thinking they could reach Ikiri as Chihiro reached what little remained of your friends inside the Forgotten. But it is not Forgotten! I know not what it is! And now I hesitate to risk the priests and the youngling to things I do not understand."

As usual the fox was not finished even as he lapsed to stillness pinching the bridge of his nose. Gritting sharp teeth Suzume turned his back to hide his shame.

"When Sen asked me the difference between a Forgotten and a Tatarigami I could not answer!"

Haku was surprised by Suzume's open admission of ignorance. Now was not the time to hedge words for pride. Not with what was at stake. But Haku was even more surprised that the fox would ask him for counsel. Turning to regard him askance again the God's gold eyes gleamed with bright appeal.

"I have lived a sheltered life bound to this land. But not you. You have traveled father and seen more of the worlds than any being I know. What do you know of this tatarigami?"

Haku stared at Suzume for a long moment as all the warmth seemed to flee the world. Closing the cabinet, slowly shuffling back to the bench, Haku edged his way back to a seat gritting his teeth against a welling stab of pain in his chest. Worse was the stab of pain in his heart. Gingerly he threaded his injured hand through the sleeve and fumbled with the lacings as he shivered violently. He gave up with the ties as his hands were shaking too much to be dexterous. Shoving Hanoane and his mask into the damp tangle of his tatter cloak Haku forced the wadded threadbare fabric of his soul into the pocket of his trousers. At once he was humming with premonition. It made him sick to his stomach with dread.

Wracking his brain he tried to understand what Urami said. What day had all this begun? Digging deep into his memories and even deeper into the shame of what he had been, Haku searched for answers. Then, as if he had been struck by lightning, Haku remembered. A blast of arctic wind blew out of him in a swirling gust. Understanding hit him like a punch to the shoulder as agony ripped through his heart. Of all the Gods under Onsen's roof Haku understood Tatarigami better than any. Earlier this day he had looked the demon in the face. What was worse, she had looked back and saw herself in him. And now Haku remembered why.

"What is it, Nigihayami!?"

He startled once more as he found the fox standing over him flustered with worry. Haku could not lie. He never could lie. So in a hush he revealed the worst of himself.

"There was a day not long after I found my way here that Ikiri taunted me with Hidé's affection for Chihiro. Do you remember what happened, Suzume-san?" (2)

Haku was startled by the calm in voice as he whispered the next.

"I make no excuses for myself. I begrudged Ikiri so much in that moment the emotion came alive. It broke free and crept down into the house to punish Ikiri for her spite and cruelty. The demon I set free would have killed both Ikiri and Chihiro had you not intervened. That day you called it hate but it has another name. Urami: resentment."

It was obvious from Suzume's strained expression that the fox also remembered. But the bright gleam of confusion in the fox's eyes made it clear that he did not yet understand. It was strange to discover the gaps of insight Kami experienced with regard to emotion. They were strangely immune to certain moods. But then again, acrimony, jealousy, and guilt were uniquely human sentiments. And with these Haku had become intimately acquainted. So he explained for the God's benefit.

"To suffer so strongly that you are lost inside that suffering: this is how Forgotten are born. Urami is similar. Urami is born of suffering like the Forgotten. But here is the difference. Unlike the Forgotten, Urami does not lose itself. Instead of being consumed, Urami consumes. Urami feeds on suffering and grows stronger and strong so that one day it can return the same suffering and more to those who have wronged it."

A chilling wind blew out of him ominously and the foxfire over Suzume's head flickered.

"You are fire, Suzume-san, and so you bend fire to your will. I am wind and water, so I bend these to my will. Urami is retribution and so it bends violence to its will. What is more, it returns that violence in kind with interest."

Haku flattened a shaking hand on his chest where Urami almost killed him.

"That is how it turned back my arrow. That is how it turned back Sen's bells. That is how it turned back the very sea when Sengen attempted to drown it earlier today."

Haku looked up at miserably as the God took a step away from him unconsciously. Finally understanding dawned on Suzume and it eclipsed him entirely. The foxfire of his heat extinguished in a hissing puff of smoke. And his grim face twisted into a mask of utter terror as he choked the words.

 _"O-Inari-sama have mercy!"_

Haku almost laughed out loud at the painful swell of hostility that rose in his chest. The worlds held no mercy for any of them Kami or human! And bitterly he produced the most terrible of truths.

"Urami turns back on itself as well, Suzume-san. That is why what I unleashed that day tried to kill Chirhio. That is why it killed Amano. It _hates_ itself most of all, because in the end, it alone is responsible for its continued suffering."

Suddenly dizzy as if the world was spinning he found himself fading. Haku did not realize he had slipped forward off the bench until Suzume caught him. Suddenly the fox yanked him upright, Haku cringed over his arm. Still treating him like a child, Suzume roughly tied the ties of the jinbei. With a beckoning flick of his wrist the God called Onsen to his service. Phantom hands whisked an indigo apron out of the cabinet. Without hesitation, and belying much experience, Suzume used it to create a sling for Haku's injured arm. Marveling at the God's skill the question slipped from him unbidden.

"How is it you know so much about healing?"

Suzume pulled a sullen moue that did not match his words.

"O-Inari-sama cherishes all life."

Haku's mouth quirked sardonically. But it fell open as the God sat back on his heels and barked an impossible order.

"We will subdue this Urami!"

Haku stared and worked his mouth uselessly.

"You cannot subdue it. Violence is useless against it."

Crossing his arms in exasperation Suzume growled at him as if he was stupid.

"Then find another way beyond violence."

Seething in bitter silence Haku opened his mouth to say unkind things. What other way was there in these worlds except violence?! But then he heard the distant muffled peal of bells. Summoned by the humming power of song, his insides lurched and shivered. Unconsciously he rose onto his knees looking toward the main house in rapt attention as his insides hummed with premonition. Tossing up his good hand to silence the fox, Haku strained his ears even as he whispered beneath his breath.

"Do you hear that!?"

Suzume scoffed dismissively.

"I hear nothing!"

Then a chorus of bells sounded from the kitchen so loudly Suzume flinched and gasped in surprise as chiming melodies went to war with each other. Jinging and jangling, they wove in and out of each other in a complexly punctuated melody of belligerent gold and silver voices as they struggled for dominance. Fearing the worst Haku scrambled to his feet only to teeter as lightheadedness eroded the edges of his vision. Even as he waved Suzume seized him, looping his good arm across his shoulders as the frozen bar of his arm wrapped tightly about Haku's waist. But before they could go sprinting out of the dressing room Onsen slammed the shuttered doors in their faces.

Magic surged up the wall and Haku jerked in surprise only to gawk in confusion as the door ceased to be a door. As he blinked the seams filled in and the bracings merged with the obdurate wood panels of the wall only to become more wall. Whirling and dragging him along Suzume made for the glass panned slider leading to the rotenburo. Again the fox came up short as the door jerked in its tracks only to fuse in place, transforming as it crystalized into stone. Spinning in a circle, Suzume came up short as the door leading to the inside pool tiled itself up as a clattering shimmering wave of white hexagons heaved off the floor to seal it shut. The fox snarled in exasperation as shutters snapped closed on the windows set high into the wall above the storage cubbies sealing them in completely and plunging them into steaming darkness. Incandescent blue sparklers sputter to life painting the walls with the shifting outlines of inky black foxes as Suzume thundered at the ceiling.

"House! What is the meaning of this!?"

The fox shied and Haku's skin crawled as more muffled bells screamed and angry shouts echoed. Her attention elsewhere Onsen continued to moan fret as the roof bowed and rippled beneath the weight of her disquiet. But where Haku expected the fox to threaten the house with fire and curses the God tempered. Shoving him away so roughly Haku was forced to catch himself on the edge of the bench as he almost fell Suzume took a deep breath as if stealing himself. Then he bowed ever so slightly and politely addressed the roof.

"Uchi-dono." (3)

As Suzume pronounced her name the dim interior froze to stillness. Blushing a light pink Suzume bore the full weight of her attention as it nearly crushed him. A chilling thrill went fizzling through Haku's bones and blood at the truth in the word. Hakuryo Onsen was the name of the traditional inn she housed. But that was not her name. Haku never thought to call her anything other than Onsen. But that was the word for what she was. He, however, had never considered that she had a name.

"Uchi-dono," Suzume repeated coaxingly, "Let us out."

She produced a single small chattering pop as if embarrassed by her outburst. Then the house jolted from floor to rafters so violently Haku's feet left the ground. He slumped over the bench as the ground continued to buck and heave. A bass moan groaned up through the timbers of her foundation that he felt inside his chest. Then the roof overhead peeled away like a curtain dragging the cross beams with it. Light rushed in from outside in a blinding flood of billowing dust. Haku cried out in shock as the rattling roar of the earthquake continued. Next the walls followed the ceiling, folding sideways like closing paper screens. These crashed over sideways folding and folding and folding smaller and smaller until they rolled away pulling up the floor boards in their wake. He was thrown sideways onto his back as the benches ripped out of the ground bucking and knocking forwards and back on their legs like stampeding cattle. Echoing cedar tubs rolled like wheels as sinks, toilets, and all manner of fixtures writhed and crawled in their wake as the tiles at his back ripped up in droves, skittering and hissing like a horde of white cased insects as they ushered the contents of the bathroom after the fleeing walls.

Haku grimaced and foundered as the base board scissor away beneath his feet like a closing fan. Together he and Suzume dropped through the floor onto a mire of steaming mud. It was only then that Haku realized the bath wing was gone. All that remained was the empty rotenburo and jumbled tilting piles of flagstone. Another roaring deep-throated rolled through the ground and Haku wallowed round only to watch in horror as above and all around him the massive beams that were the house's bones tore themselves out of the stone foundations. These crashed down about him like the trunks of massive falling trees. He and Suzume scrambled apart as one smashed down between them only to skate forward growing smaller and shrinking to nothing more than a toothpick as it disappeared in the great spreading curtains of brown billowing dust veiling the central structures.

Haku gaped as above the clouds the great keel of Onsen's blue-tiled roof shivered and heaved. It split right down the middle with a ripping pop he felt inside his chest. The roof yawned opened with a tremendous bellowing moan before it folded inward disappearing beneath the cloak of dust. Beside it the God wing's adjoining bridges ripped free only to zip sideways into the teetering three-story-structure before it collapsed downward like the flattening hull of a paper lantern. Finally the quaking in the ground rumbled to stillness. Haku whirled as a hand closed over his shoulder. Coated in mud, Suzume foundered beside him before hauling him upright. Throwing his attention back at the cloud he strained his eyes to see anything. But the veiling of billowing dust was impenetrable.

Staring uncomprehending Haku's insides coiled tighter and tighter. Slowly anxiety wound him to breaking as he shoved the fox away. Breathing out a ragged sob Haku threw his hands over his head in spite of the shocking pain. Circling them round and round he whirled and gathered a raging gale at his fingertips. This he set loose on the cloud with a shredded sob. Screaming blades of wind sliced across the newly exposed flats. Coiled mistrals detonated behind his back throwing him face first to the ground. Even as he cringed in the mud his angry wind scoured away the cloud of dust. Lifting his face from the steaming puddles his heart surged up into his throat. He stared uncomprehending as his world narrowed to simple thoughts.

The hill that their home had occupied was empty save for a scattering of foundation stones. Even the walls ringing the property were gone. The view from the hill down into the back fields and the forest beyond was unhampered. Looking forlorn and out of place the ponds and gardens stood naked beneath the sky. Nothing remained of Onsen; nothing save a single sliding door in its frame. It was the back door. It stood uselessly on the flat packed dirt where the kitchen had been. In front of it Sen stood like a stranger. Whereas her armor had eroded in fire and salt, her indigo and silk garments had not. The gold-red face of the phoenix gleamed in the gloomy bitter cold noon light. At her back God and humans milled in abject confusion. The quick white clouds of the mortal's breath lifted in floating clouds. None stirred from the lips of the Gods. Somewhere in their midst Haku could hear Lin's kits crying explosively. Sen ignored them completely, looking intently at what was cupped in her hands. Whatever it was, she held it as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Then she secreted it away into her pocket only to jerk in surprise at the thunderous shout.

" _WHAT DID YOU DO!?"_

Haku did not realize the fox crossed the distance in a blink until his voice echoed from afar. He jerked as if touched by a live wire at the blind rage in the God's voice. Lin scrambled to hand off the baby in her only arm but she was too slow. There was not enough time to interject herself between Suzume and Sen. Panic surged like cold acid in Haku's blood as he scrambled in the mud. But he was also slow. Too slow! _Too slow!_ Sen, however, whisked up into the air out of the fox's reach as he lunged for her. Stunned, Haku's mouth dropped open as she drifted on high absolutely weightless. Over her head she opened the umbrella Onsen had gifted him. The wind in his blood stirred in response to the whipping gale she summoned. Wobbling only ever so slightly, she bent the air to her will and remained aloft. Unconcerned by his outburst Sen snapped back down at the fox.

"Calm down, Suzume! Onsen's safe!"

The muddy fox, however, was just as inconsolable as his house had been.

" _Where is she!? What did you do to her?!"_

A furious constellation of foxfires erupted in the air around Sen. Ducking in their midst, she dropped to perch on the door frame. Wobbling precariously holding her umbrella sideways for balance she produced the suzu. The rainbow of ribbons cracked and snapped and bells rang she bated the flames aside. Dancing across the narrow bar of wood she whirled on her toes staving them off.

"Grandfather, look out!"

Keiichi drew the old priest aside as the fox nearly trampled them. Hiko and Ginka towed Kai up to safety onto the mound that had been the front stairs. Natsumi appealed for temperance as she retreated cradling a screaming kit.

"Don't hurt Miss Sen, Suzume-san!"

The fox ignored her Little Green Frog seized the God's leg. Yoshi and Usagi followed suit, catching him around the middle. Aniyaku joined. So did Jae and Kenka and Megumi. But the fox shook them off growling like a wild animal. Finally, still holding one of the kits closely, Lin interceded. Kicking her long leg high she planted a foot in the middle of the fox's chest.

 _"Knock it off, Suzume!"_ Lin barked furiously.

The fox caught her ankle in his pale hands still blind with fury. But then he blinked, following the curve of her shapely calve to the lean length of thigh. As he did the bleached white God turned absolutely red. He stumbled back throwing his hands high scattering frogs as Lin gave him a firm shove. At once his foxfires guttered and snuffed out. Whipping the umbrella high over her head Sen sprang off the doorway before she could fall. Back in the safety of the air her suzu disappeared only to be replaced by something else. Kicking up clouds of dirt she touched down on the flats where the hallway to great room hat been. Thrusting out her arm she presented something and shouted firmly.

"Here! She's here!"

Haku peered across the distance as something blue-green gleamed in Sen's gloved. It looked like one of the kitchen tiles. It was. Scattering Gods and humans as he waded between them Suzume came up short before Sen. His snow white hands were shaking as he gently cupped what she offered. Stricken, he folded forward onto his knees bending over his hands.

"Child!" He repeated mournfully in a choke, "What have you done!?"

Standing over him unmoved the fox flinched at the sharp iron edge in her voice.

"Do you remember what the spiders did to her, Suzume?"

Even Haku shivered as it cut through him across the distance as she continued

"I won't watch monsters tear our house apart. I won't leave her behind. If we can't win today we're taking her with us."

Here Sen held out a demanding hand.

"Now give her back. She and I have work to do."

Baring his teeth leaning away in refusal Suzume loosed a yip as fire kindled in his fingers. The bright white flame of the house's presence bloomed in his cupped palms. Without flinching Sen snatched the flames from his fingers. Whisking the umbrella up in front of her like a shield she blew a breath into the tines. Her toes barely brushed the ground as she skated forward across the hill. Kai cried aloud watching in wide-eyed astonishment as Sen vaulted off the slope. Twirling slowly she drifted on a sure course as the Gods ducked their heads beneath her feet. Sinking onto her toes atop the doorframe she bent to place the burning tile atop the frame. As her flames extinguished the title latched onto the wood with a loud snap. The frame gave a jolt making Sen wave her arms for balance as she held her umbrella high. Then the slider yanked open with a familiar rattling snick. Haku blinked, because he could see through the doorway. There was nothing on the other side. All the same, with gasps and cries, the Gods retreated from it in fear clambering up the dirt bank.

"Damn it! Don't run!"

Sen called after them impatiently waving them back.

"I'm not sending you away!"

Stomping her foot, she made the doorframe rattle as she stabbed a finger down at it.

"It's Onsen's closet, okay!? She's demanding you put on something sturdier!"

The Gods glanced at each other uncertainly. Haku found himself unsurprised as Megumi broke away from the knot first. Jae reached after her scrambling to disentangle himself from Kenka.

"Wait, Meg! _Meg!_ "

Ignoring the male, lifting her chin challengingly, the prim ballerina pointed the haft of the folded fan in her hand right at Sen as she marched under the archway. But on the other side she startled with an audible gasp coming up short staring at her hands. Gone was the white double breasted coat with its rows of buttons. Gone were her apron and black trousers. Instead she wore a suit of armor more than familiar in Haku's eyes. Above study split-toe boots gold and teal striped pleated trousers bound tightly from knee to ankle in studded bronzed shin guards that would protect but not weigh her movements. Brightly dyed purple shark-skin gloves gave traction as the hinged plates clasped around thickly padded silk arm guards would deflect blows without being cumbersome or bulky. The same could be said of the laced lacquered overlapping lames capping her shoulders and encasing chest in rows of gleaming turquoise and gold. More hung from her waist in flaring overlapping panels that comprised a split knee-length skirt that fell to her knees. These were secured by a wide sash of mauve silk tightly trussed around her narrow waist. This gleamed with sinuous curling wind patterns that carried over to gust across the fabric of her gear. Haku could not see the shock on Megumi's face. It was hidden beneath the flanged dome of her helmet and the fierce visage of a sharp beaked peacock. Emblazoned on the central plate of her chest guard was a device Haku had seen before. It was carved and painted on the chests of treasure Onsen kept secreted away in her shadows. Three gold sheaves of wheat overlapped into a circle. At its center was a churning ball of curling blue foxfire. Inside of which was a brilliantly burning heart.

Jae stared after her uncomprehending for a moment. Then, seizing Kenka, the smaller male dragged his startled friend across the threshold. As they crossed they came up short beside Megumi staring down and skittering apart as they held their hands up in awe. Each was similarly armored save for the colors of their gear. Haku shivered violently as he stared at the glimpse of their souls Onsen revealed in the armor she produced for the humans. Not surprisingly Jae's suiting flashed in fiery reds, oranges, and gold. Beneath the shading lip of the helmet his mask bore a fierce canine snarl. Gold pointed teeth gleaming in the frosty gloom as his steaming breath plumed through the mouth gap. Kenka's armor was arranged in summer shades of warm green and cool silver. Although the tall male's mask offered a somber silver humanoid face touched with heart-breaking sympathy willowy branches wove their way up the crest of his helm. Similar patterns of graceful leaves flashed and winked across the fabric of his trousers and securing panels of fabric enrobed plate. Again, in spite of differences in color on their chests each human bore Onsen's crest.

"Dude!" Kenka breathed in awe as he flattened his hands on his chest.

" _Fuck, yeah!"_ Jae laughed explosively. "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!"

The smaller male continued to enthuse striking expansive poses between jumping up and down as if experimenting with the weight and balance of his armor. Inspired, Megumi joined him, performing a stunning cartwheel, whipping sideways only to land back on her feet without so much as touching the ground. Then Megumi produced a rare laugh as the males shrank from her in surprise.

"It's so light!"

Here Sen straightened to perch on the door frame above the shaken thicket of Gods and mortals. Even as she looked down in grim satisfaction at Megumi, Jae, and Kenka, she wobbled slightly as Kai called out to her from the bank where the front stairs has been.

"Can I have some armor too!?"

As Haku watched all this from afar suddenly tremendous disquiet found him. But even as he crouched there shaking with fury, he could not stand nor could he speak. And so his opposition blew out of him in a violent, violent wind that ripped across the barren landscape kicking up a whipping curtain of dust to billow in its wake. More wind answered, this one dry and hot. He cringed from the smell of burning camphor as it buffeted his face, making him cringe behind an up-thrown arm. A shadow fell over him and he peered around his fingers at Sen was suddenly standing over him beneath the fluttering fabric of his tattered western umbrella. But she did not fold beside him to fuss and fluster over his injury with tearful worry as Chihiro might have. Instead she hung over him momentarily regarding his injured shoulder with an unwavering gaze of iron. Startled by her abrupt appearance the harsh words slipped out of him without his consent.

"This is not a game!"

She did not even flinch replying with quiet calm.

"I never said it was."

And her composure only unsettled him more, making him angrier. He stared up at her shocked by the frigid anger in his heart. The blistering cold spread through him on a surge of fury.

"No amount of armor can protect them from what is coming, Sen!"

As he spat her name hoarsely her answering rebuke came without hesitation.

"Shut up, Kohaku. Don't scare them with truth after they've made their decision to fight."

Stung by the forceful crack in her voice he leaned away as she crouched over her heels.

"You would risk our family!?"

Her cold severity burned him.

"We're stronger together. Beside, we can't run away anymore. Not this time."

Sen extended the hand not holding the haft of the umbrella. The glove was scorched and stained with blood.

"I need your fans. All of them."

Haku shivered in horror over what her request implied. Even though he had suggested this exact tactic suddenly faced with the reality of what it would require he balked. Sen, however, did not. Blinking rapidly, he jerked as she leaned forward and invaded his pockets. Mutely he looked on as she produced the wad of his tatter cloak and rummaged her hand into the folds of the filmy fabric that was a piece of his soul. One by one she produced Okesa's fans and shoved them into the sash at her waist. The last two were black, black, black with bells of iron to match her flinty eyes. At the sight of them a surge of panic made him seize the edge of her shattered breast plate with his uninjured hand. Bowing his head Haku choked on the words with miserable shame.

"I… I cannot stand with you!"

Desperately, selfishly, he wished she would pull him close and hold him if only for a moment. Chihiro would have offered him that but Sen had no comfort for him. Even her resolved words held no solace as she regarded him unwaveringly.

"Trust me like I trusted you at the Oni Rocks."

Haku barely heard her. In that moment he was consumed by resentment for the eerie stoicism radiating out of her. As before it turned Sen into a complete stranger; and with every appearance of this steely stranger the glimpses of Chihiro he caught in Sen grew more and more infrequent.

"Sen!"

Lin called distantly. The edge of fear in her voice made his insides contract with frozen dread.

"Sen, something's coming!"

Then she disappeared completely beneath the phoenix face of her red-gold mask. The spider silk plate ripped from his hand as she lurched up to feet with swift economy. She thrust the umbrella before her and skated away on a whip of hot wind that left him cringing in wonderment. When had she learned to master air? He did not know. All the same, Haku was left reaching after her with a protest on the tip of his tongue. It died there. Frozen with terror and lost within himself he stared wanting her to come back. But confusion tore him in two as he grappled with who he wanted to return.

He had chased this girl across both of the worlds. He has pursued her across time itself. Even after he found her she remained out of reach. And so he gave himself up, cut himself off from all he knew, all just to inch closer. For a moment, in the dream of the mortal life he had lived in Tokyo, she had been his. But that life had been a lie and the dream ended all too soon. Finally they had been reunited. Now it seemed there was nothing left of the girl he so cherished in this stranger of steel and fire. Horrified, Haku cringed from the realization. Agony stabbed him through the heart so powerful he rocked back on his heels with a gasp. Because it was Chihiro he called after. It was Chihiro whom he wanted to return. But Chihiro was gone. All the light and warmth in the world fled as he realized the tatarigami was right. In the end, in spite of everything, he had lost after all.

Bowing his head he gripped his cloak in his cursed hand as tears robbed him of sight. Endlessly despair pooled from the deep echoing well in his heart. But then it dyed a darker shade as bitterness made him reconsider everything he had sacrificed. Haku gasped as his index finger throbbed. He jerked as a cold tingling crept up his arm. Shocked, he realized he couldn't move as his arm twitched at his side. It no longer belonged to him. Arresting terror heaved in his chest making it too small to breath. By the time he realized Urami had seduced him it was too late. Shuddering and quaking he cried out as it spreading through him like a chilling disease. Surging to his feet he stumbled sideways as if he could flee his own arm somehow. But there was nothing he could do as it lulled him backwards into the swallowing dark. Then there was nothing more as it consumed him.

 **Notes:**

jinbei (甚平), alternately jinbē (甚兵衛) or hippari (ひっぱり), is a kind of traditional Japanese clothing worn during the summer or around the house. Sets consist of a top and matching pair of shorts; although some have long pants. Traditional jinbei are made from hemp or cotton and are dyed a uniform color, often indigo, blue or green. –Source: Wikipedia.

Book one, chapter 11: hate.

The word _uchi_ has deep meaning in Japanese culture. A simple translation would be home as it carried the connotation of family. But there is so much more weight and feeling in the word. _Uchi_ is also used to mean, "Where someone belongs." Women in the Kansai region sometimes use it casually instead of _watashi_ when referring to themselves.


	52. Chapter 52

**SEN**

Covered in mud, looking ready to pass out at any moment, Kohaku looked like hell. Chihiro would've been freaking out. But Sen wasn't. It was all so very far away; so much further than it'd been at Aburaya. She wasn't even startled as he grabbed the edge of her armor with his good hand.

"I… I cannot stand with you!"

Even as Kohaku bent his head in shame and choked the words in shredded misery Sen felt nothing, not with the void yawning between her and the rest of the world. Not understanding what it was and what it meant she'd forced herself to the other side of this brink thinking it would make her stronger. But now it seemed she couldn't get back. Distantly she was horrified and disgusted with herself. She fought to summon some kind of tenderness to offer him. But the sentiment remained out of reach. Back on this side of the worlds there was nothing but cold fire in her heart. All she could do was pronounce her request in an unwavering voice teeming with perseverance yet devoid of emotion.

"Trust me as I trusted you at the Oni Rocks."

He cringed from her Lin shouted in the distance. She didn't have time to notice.

"Sen! Something's coming!"

Forgetting everything Sen's head jerked around as if pulled by bells. Her keen eyes grazed past the doorway and across the fields to the distant wall of trees. An undulating cloud of birds burst from the forest fleeing into the sky. Heavy silence throbbed through the dark trunks as the world seemed to grow darker. Thunder rolled distantly as a blade of white slipped like a ghost between the pine trees. The world turned brown and died as the hunched suffering thing slowly picked its way forward. All the way across the void Sen felt the white cold punch. It hit her right in the gut. But for once she wasn't sickened with panic. Distantly she heard the gasps of the Kami. And there was no time. No time for him. No time for herself. This was more than both of them. And she had to finish what she started.

Yanking on her mask she lurched to her feet tearing from Kohaku's grasp. As she threw the umbrella out in front of herself she blew a huge breath through her pursed lips. A massive gust of wind swelled at her back filling the fabric of the parasol as the hand of gravity dissolved inside her stomach. Her arm snapped taut as the umbrella hauled her across the terrain at a devouring speed. Her toes barely skimmed the ground. It was a seriously eerie sensation that would've made her panic and falter under any other circumstance. But the unbending perseverance possessing her sharpened her to an edge of precision. The tight knot of humans and kami drew back as the wind petered out tossing her back into gravity's grip. Lifting her umbrella high for balance Sen skipped the last few steps as she lurched into their midst.

" _Whoa!"_

Kenka gasped behind the silver mask of his helmet as he skittered away from her. Sen started up at him for a moment mildly noting his transformation.

"Where's Kou?"

Before she could answer Hiko and Ginka squealed in terror. Up on the bank they scrambled to hide behind Natsumi.

"Oh, dear!" The old yuna choked hoarsely in her wood smoke voice, "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!"

Natsumi had both of the kits now, clutching the spider silk bundles closely. Her perfectly round eyes remained riveted in the distance.

"T-t-t-t-trees are d-d-dying!" Yoshi cried mournfully as he clung to Usagi.

Little Green Frog was shaking visible in the bow of the rabbit's other arm. Usagi looked ready to run off dragging them behind her. The whites of her eyes were gleaming brightly in the thin cold light filtering through the low brooding clouds. Following her gaze Sen watched Meg and Jae clambering sideways peering into the distance as Suzume barred their way. The fox held Lin by the wrist of her only arm. She had pulled his arm straight and taut. Lin towed him further still dragging him off the packed dirt floor onto the sloping ice crusted grass as she struggled to see.

"What is it!?" Aniyaku croaked tremulously, "Is it a Forgotten?"

"No!" Suzume growled in warning, "It is a tatarigami!"

Lin hissed between her clenched teeth rounding on him furiously.

"Don't call her that!"

The fox shrank from his wife throwing up his hands in contrition. Keiichi gasped as understanding dawned on him.

"Kiri…!"

The young priest stood beside Goshiro wringing the haft of an arm length stick. He was just as white as the hissing whispery paper fletching its crown. Sen recognized it as the same type of wand Kazuo Hitomi had wielded against Aki back at the Inari shrine in Ueno. Keiichi jumped as his grandfather placed a restraining hand on the younger priest's shoulder. Without realizing it he had taken a step towards the back fields. Kai whispered the next as he clung to the old priest's sleeve.

"Why's she making all t'trees an' t'grass die?"

Goshiro's pale eyes gleamed like blades as he stared at remains of his granddaughter. His wizened face was more than weary but he didn't seem surprised. Distantly Sen knew he had seen this before and it made her wonder when and where.

"Ikiri is sick, dear boy. We are going to try and help her."

Grinding her teeth Sen realized she was wasting time. At least she could still feel impatient. For a brief moment she wished Cinna was still with them. Where the cat had gone Sen didn't know. She didn't want to ask this of the humans. But she didn't have a choice.

"Here."

Folding her umbrella and stashing it in her endless pocket, she yanked two fans from the sash at her waist and shoved them into Kenka's hands. Next she grabbed Jae and hauled him around to force the last red fan into his gloved fingers. Behind his wolf mask Jae blinked in rapid surprise as Sen turned to face Megumi. Holding out Shurui's black fans Sen startled the armored female.

"Give him your other fan and take these. They're stronger than yours."

Megumi accepted the black fans with cautious reluctance. Then she passed her folded red fan to Jae. Sen could feel the terror vibrating through their bodies. The bells hanging from the hafts of Shurui's fans hummed in muffled sympathy. But for once Sen was beyond to the infection of fear.

"Child!" Suzume barked explosively, "What are you planning!?"

The humans shrank fearfully as the fox seized her whipping her around tightening his fingers on her shoulders to the point of pain. The God held her firmly if afraid she might fly off. Everyone was looking at her now: God and human. Sen explained without a moment's pause making the fox blink rapidly as his mouth fell open.

"Six fans and three humans: three to avert whatever Urami returns to me times three."

Suzume gave her a fierce shake bearing sharp teeth as he snarled at her.

"You cannot subdue Urami with violence!"

Sen was immune to his terrifying vehemence and the spitting foxfires kindling overhead.

"That's why we're gonna use bells, Suzume."

His reservations intensified as his pinched face twisted with outraged terror. Whispering beneath his breath again he shook her but gently this time. Above them the angry foxfires raced and pulsed crackling and snapping as they lit up the gloom.

"Child! I will not sit by and play _music_ as you face that aberration alone!"

Reaching up with her hands she caught the angry God's face turning it and holding him firmly as he'd held her earlier. Staring him down she cowed the fox with her unwavering gaze as he closed his snow white hands around her wrists possessively.

"Since when have I ever been alone in any of this?"

Slowly the God turned his face sideways as if trying to escape the intensity of her eyes. All the while he watched her from their corners with suspicious dismay. But then he abruptly let go of her shoulders taking one uncertain backward step after the other. Sen glanced sharply at Lin. Her friend stopped in her tracks to hover anxiously. Turning away from them both Suzume strode blindly under Onsen's arch. Then he snapped to a halt on the other side standing bolt upright. White fire crackled and snapped atop the frame where the tile hung like a guiding light. More white fluttered and furled as the God's garments transformed.

The glossy heavy silk of his robes and pleated trousers were more than familiar. Whirling back to face her Suzume gaped incredulously at the golden flute in his hands. It had broken into two pieces at Aburaya during a scuffle with Kohaku. Thanks to Onsen's magic it was made whole. Here a fire lit in his eyes as he lifted his face to stare at her in awe. Sen saw it and knew it for was it was: hope. Absolutely elated Suzume galvanized as a blue blaze sparked at the hem of his clothes. Foxfires spiraled up across his clothes painting them in fantastic patterns of brilliant fire. Climbing off his shoulders, they haloed around his head. His pale hair singed a glossy black as the God barked orders at the other kami. His powerful voice echoed off the hill as he pointed at the frame with his gleaming flute.

"All of you get through there! Pick an instrument and prepare yourselves!"

For a moment the Aburaya Gods stared. Then in a great wave they poured down the slope through the arch only to flood back to her. Little Green Frog and Aniyaku lugged a big and medium taiko with determination. These they rolled up the slope to where Natsumi still perched keeping anxious watch. Usagi darted ahead of them carrying a biwa and a shamisen. At her back Yoshi balanced a koto on his back. Hiko and Hinko produced their gleaming percussive bells.

"Miss Sen!"

Hiko began tremulously clasping her cymbal tightly.

"Miss Sen!"

Ginka finished just as frightened as she fiddled with the striker of hers. They inquired the next of her in perfect unison.

"What should we play?!"

Sen lightly ghosted her hands over their heads before scooting them toward the hill. As she turned she addressed the assembled kami with a sureness she hoped was catching.

"Play something a God couldn't resist. Wait until the absolute last minute when the music will do the most good. It won't expect it. When you do start, no matter what, don't stop playing."

Here Sen rounded on Keiichi making the priest jolt. He was sweating heavily in spite of the cold and his glasses were slightly askew as they slid down his nose. The paper on his wand whispered loudly. On the hill Gods hissed and retreated from the sound. Even Sen was forced to shrink a step as her stomach gave an eerie lurch. Jae, Megumi, and Kenka, however, looked on unaffected. So did Goshiro and Kai.

"It's getting closer!" Natsumi cried in dismay, "It's at the back rice fields!"

Hurriedly Sen addressed the young priest.

"Can you get through to Ikiri?"

Turning absolutely white the young priest glanced sideways at his grandfather making the back lacquered tail on his had bob and wave. Goshiro nodded with slow resigned solemnity.

"He will try, Fujo Sen. Go with her, Keiichi. We will wait here until we are needed."

Here he placed his gnarled hands on Kai's shoulders. Earlier the kid had been excited by the armor Onsen summoned from thin air. But now Kai looked a little shell-shocked. He was white as the living ghost making its way down the back path. His gray eyes followed its progress without comment. Again a God had her by the arm! Thinking it was Suzume Sen rounded with a sharp command poised on her lips. Behind her mask it died on the breath that she suddenly sucked into her lungs. Lin stood over her glaring dourly wearing an expression of blank terror. The scar on her temple twisted into a bright red snarl as she spat the words miserably. Gods couldn't lie so Sen knew they were true.

"I can't go with you, not if the priest has that wand. We can't stand the sound."

Peeling her friend's only hand from her beaten armor Sen squeezed it tightly. She was surprised by the words that fell from her lips as if pronounced by someone else. Premonition was humming in her blood however distantly.

"Kohaku needs me but I'm too far away. Help him."

Lin's face tightened with confusion. So did her only hand.

"What are you talking about!? You're right here!"

With a sinking feeling muted and so very, very far Sen hushed back just as confused.

"No… I'm not..."

With that Sen wrenched free pointing at the kitchen humans as she strode down the back lawn.

"All of you come with me."

Jae, Megumi, and Kenka all scrambled after her. Keiichi followed in their wake making his wand rustle in the wind. Sen heard Lin gasp in dismay. Seconds later her friend called after her desperately. And now even Lin sounded so very far away.

"Sen! _Sen! Come back, Sen!_ "

She didn't look back. Instead she passed the forlorn naked gardens following the gravel path through what had been the gate in the back wall as she turned her eyes across the back fields. The oppressive black sky was growing lower and lower smelling strongly of snow as her breath plumed white. The tall grass rolled away from where the main house had been in a field as big as a Costco parking lot. Primordial forest hemmed it in on all sides reminding that not long ago even this had been wild. In the far distance she could see the tatarigami. Bent as if burdened by a heavy weight it was slowly trudging down the long packed dirt path that divided the field into grass and old rice paddies. Bits of dried seaweed clung to its body, which also carried a dusting of fine sand. Sen could just barely make out the flickering black tongue of fire perched on its brow. As it passed the reeds choking the muddy water withered and shriveled. So did the wafting tall grass. Reaching out and touching one of the stone guardian statues lining the path the granite shuddered and writhed. It eroded into dust.

"Fuck! _Fuck!"_

Jae cursed shrilly beneath his breath at the sight.

" _Are you fuckin' seein' this shit!?_ "

Abruptly the humans came up short making Sen skid to a halt in the icy tall grass. As she did she produced her suzu from her pocket. Sen glanced sideways as Meg stammered with uncharacteristically shrill apprehension.

"W-what is that thing!?"

Gasping from exertion involved in their short sprint, Keiichi bent clutching his wand. As he did he whispered a tremulous explanation.

"That's my sister!"

Here Kenka cut apprehensively.

"What're we doing, Chihiro!? That thing melts rocks!"

Sen startled at the name. She didn't like being called that name! It reminded her of everything she'd lost. Even across all the distance it made her angry.

"Chihiro's gone," she muttered grimly.

Behind his mask of leaves Kenka's silver eyes were stricken.

"W-what!?"

She spilled truth without realizing what she was doing. It was a Godish thing to do.

"I gave Chihiro to the Fire in my heart to burn a thousand Gaki. I'm all that's left. I'm Sen."

Here she pointed at the tatarigami purposefully.

"The priest's gonna try to reason with it. While he does I'll hold it back and you're gonna deflect whatever that thing throws at me."

Jae swore at her explosively.

"How _t'fuck_ 'r'we s'posed t'do that!? I've only used these things a couple of times!"

Unperturbed by Jae and Kenka's inexperience Sen appealed to Megumi.

"I gave you the black fans for a reason. Take the lead until they figure it out. You gave me a serious run earlier today. You can do this!"

At once the woman behind the fierce peacock mask lifted her chin and nodded firmly. Sen nodded in return.

"Stay on the higher ground so you can see better. Keiichi, come with me."

Then she broke away from the knot of humans and hurried down the remainder of the hill. The gravel of the path crunched under her feet. Directly ahead of her, about the distance of a city block, was the tatarigami. Oblivious to them it reached out to destroy another smiling moss covered statue. Before it could Sen rent her suzu through the air. Bells rang clamorously calling the stone to life. It shuddered and rolled away from the things outreached fingers turning head over heels grating and grinding against the dirt path until it righted itself beside her. Sen placed her hand on top of the stone and felt the God within quaking in terror. As it did Sen lifted her suzu high and the humming bells lapsed into silence. Slowly, as if it had all the time in the word, the haggard naked thing lifted it jet black eyes to stare at her. Beneath its unblinking gaze Sen's insides crawled. The hushed hoarse husk of its voice was almost lost in a gust of frigid wind as it addressed her with familiarity.

 **"Sen."**

Its gruesome sureness might've frightened Chihiro; but not Sen. Sen met its threat with the obdurate determination. The black flame perched on its brow guttered violently and its lidless eyes slide sideways to the younger priest. Keiichi stumbled down the rest of the hill to stand opposite the stone statue. Still gasping and sweating beneath the weight of his heavy silk robes; his pale stricken eyes fixed in horror on the terrible thing taking residence in his twin's emaciated naked body.

"Kiri!"

Sen paused distantly impressed as the kannushi marshalled through his obvious terror. At once he sank onto his heels and took a straight backed practiced posture holding his paper fletched wand high. Speaking in firm antiquated formal Japanese Keiichi addressed the God bowing deeply.

"O-tatarigami-sama! This one humbly beseeches that you lay down your spite! This one humbly beseeches that you retreat from the one called Ikiri! She is much loved and missed by this one! I beg you from the bottom of my heart! Please return my sister!"

It snorted dismissively as if terribly bored.

" **Too little, too late."**

As it took another step forward the young priest jerked upright gritting his teeth in terror. Faintly anger transfixed the demon's slack features. It was the first time Sen saw it emote anything other than exhaustion.

" **I begrudge you, brother. And I refuse."**

As it turned on Keiichi the young priest stood tall and slashed the stick back and forth with practiced movements. The paper streamers hushed and flustered as they whipped and cracked.Sen and the tatarigami shuddered and wavered. Unprepared for the effect the sound had on her Sen's knees turned to rubber dumping her into the dirt at the feet of the stone guardian. But even as the demon slumped it shifted and shrugged out from under the onusa's compelling hiss. Working its spindly arms over its head as if holding aloft a giant invisible mass Urami heaved up its body and cast the persuasion back at the younger priest.

Sen gasped cringing under her arms as the inveterate vim flooded over her in a tsunami of hissing, shushing, furious sound. It crashed down knocking her back into the carved boulder so violently the rear of her head cracked against the rock. Stunned and blinded by sparklers, all the air rushed out of her lungs in a rattling wheeze as the force crushed her face down into the gravel. At her back the stone God moaned in a low bass voice as it ground deep into the dirt vibrating her very bones. For a moment as she lay there pinned by blinding pain Sen wondered distantly if her head was about to pop. Then hideous hissing abated leaving her coughing and gasping to return air to her lungs.

Dizzy and disoriented Sen pitched upwards climbing the boulder and falling across it. She reached a weaving arm to intercede before what Urami returned could hurt Keiichi. As she clung to the rock Sen was left staring in astonishment. The wave of sound and fury passed Keiichi by harmlessly. He cringed behind his fluttering onusa in utter confusion. All around him the waving grass flattened as if crushed by an invisible steamroller. Sen blinked and blinked and blinked uncomprehending. But then a flash of intuition blinded her like a glimpse of Sengen's mirror. Keiichi was human. The onusa had no effect on him. Its voice reached only the Gods.

Before she could consider this further Sen whirled, cringing from the thing at her back. Bent and panting the tatarigami almost fell but it marshalled and staggered upright. Its bleak eyes grazed sideways to Jae, Megumi, and Kenka as they flooded down the hill. At her back the humans folded around Keiichi as the young priest stood stone still in shock. Sen staggered into the path of its gaze lifting her suzu high and ready in obvious warning. And its spectral eyes skated back to her bring with them all the cold of winter. Sen shuddered involuntarily as its hate reached her all the way across the void. It whispered faintly making Sen strain to hear.

" **D'you know why I didn't kill him back at t'old village?"**

Dread slowly frosted over her implacable calm as its words held her like manacles. It was talking about Kohaku.

 **"He's already me. He just hasn't realized it yet. I just needed t'remind him."**

Eclipsed in a moment of distant horror, Sen stared blankly. Then the tatarigami sprang. It sprinted across the distance faster than she thought possible. Stumbling in shock she hacked back and forth with her suzu using it like a baseball bat like she had in Aburaya's basement. But the demon rolled aside, twisting, spinning, ducking, and diving as it ghosted through the reverberating overlapping waves of bellsong. The fire in Sen's heart guttered as it hurtled forward with reaching fingers so fast she was left hurriedly staggering backwards remembering how those hands had dissolved stone. A violent gust of wind blew out of fires burning inside her body. At her call the invisible hands dragged her sideways up the slick dead grass leaving behind a rut of burning embers. Sprawling awkwardly as ashes swirled around her the tatarigami collapsed on the stone guardian instead of her. Granite eroded beneath flickering black fire sputtering from the demon's palms. Again the statue moaned in deep reverberating wail she felt inside the marrow of her bones.

" _No!"_ Sen shrieked.

But her voice was lost in the thunderous chime of bells that rang off the hillside. Sen jolted at the sound. Her eyes darted to the silent suzu still clutched in her hand. She jerked involuntarily as movement blurred at the peripheries of her vision. Glancing up Sen watched Kenka and Jae drag Keiichi away from the tatarigami. Even as they fled Megumi surged forward. As if immune to the hands of gravity she pirouetted down the path like a spinning top. She was a dervish of gleaming purple, teal, and gold; so light and weightless Sen couldn't believe Megumi was human. As if she'd been born with the fans in her hands Megumi sliced the hissing edges of the black lacquered paper with every turn. And with every cutting snick the dour iron bells tolled sonorously.

Bells punched Urami right in the chest peeling it off the dissolving statue.

Bells hurled it sideways onto the ground.

Bells dragged it back upright only to smash it down again and pin it in the gravel.

Reeling and bloodied the tatarigami threw up its hands and finally caught hold of the violence. Holding firmly the demon jack-knifed off the ground in an eerie undulating move using reverberation to right itself. Yanked back to its feet, it landed lightly lashing the unseen peeling waves of bellsong like whips. The ringing distorted echoing unnervingly the same ways the cables of the subway did as the cars came speeding by. As the ballerina faltered in surprise the demon rose onto its toes mirroring Megumi's whirling twirl. It churned its outstretched hands in waving interlocking twists snarling the sound tighter and tighter before letting the ricocheting resonance fly free.

The humming backlash returned with devastating consequences. It tore up the ground like a gyrating saw blade. Dirt clotted the air as muddy water spurted in foaming jets. But before it could cut down Megumi Jae and Kenka sailed past her sides. Twin blurs of green silver and red gold, they kicked up curtains of gravel. Together they moved as one in perfect unison bending backwards parallel to the ground. Skidding on knee guards under the wall of force Urami unleashed they righted. Jingling and jangling they heaved their hands high slashing with blurring crimson gold and silver. In the same moment Megumi leapt and sprang off their offered shoulders.

She soared like a bird spreading her shining plumage blotting out the gloomy sky. As she returned she sliced her fans low like flashing obsidian. The black bells tolled again as thunder cracked overhead with a tremendous boom. Three times three, the dancers furled the edges of their fans like cutting blades. The clamorous screech of their carillons sliced through the wall of the tatarigami's spite. Cut, ripped, and shredded into pieces, it divided around them harmlessly. More wind surged across the hill and the paddies making the world shiver and shudder. Breathing hard and trembling visibly, the tatarigami came to stillness as the gale jetted past. Urami's uncanny obsidian eyes went wide if only for a moment. Then they darted between the humans as if reckoning. It hissed beneath its breath reluctantly.

" **You… I don't know you… But I'll begrudge you if I must…"**

Pointing with blade of her fan Megumi lifted her chin challengingly. At her back Jae spat at the tatarigami viciously from behind his wolf's face.

" _F-fuck you whatever t'fuck you are!"_

Gleaming like seashells as they dragged away from Urami, Kenka's pale eyes darted up the slope at her. Sen had never seen Kenka dance. Back in Tokyo he'd been too sick to risk the effort. But not now; not since Suzume had fixed whatever was wrong with his heart. Graceful as the willows emblazoned across his body, he rose with soft subtle motions that made her want to watch more. But across the distance his pale eyes begged for instruction. Unfortunately she had none to give. This was not victory. It was stalemate. In the ringing silence that followed Sen forced herself upright clasping her suzu. Unnerved by the oppressive quiet distantly she wondered where the music was. In its absence they'd only been able to artlessly bludgeon tatarigami with bellsong, not ensare it with dance. Although what she intended to do once they had it dancing chilled her even across the distance.

Sen jerked as overhead thunder cracked as the black clouds sank lower and lower. Her quick breath became a billowing white plume in the frigid wind. It began to snow heavily, so heavily she could barely see anything. Then a flute screeched dissonantly but it wasn't the music she'd so desperately hoped for. The sound knocked her off balance sending her back to one knee. The shrill eerie melody swelled and rambled. It scattered here and there as if panicked making her sway off balance. Again it towed on her compellingly even as she resisted. Through the curtains of white Sen saw the tatrigami bend rasping and heaving hideously. At first she thought it was choking but then Sen realized Urami was laughing.

 **"Look, Sen! He finally realized he's lost!"**

Triumphantly the demon pointed into the devouring white. All the while she laughed and laughed with crushing malevolence.

" _ **And it's your fault! It's all your fault!"**_

 **LIN**

Panic surged in her blood like cold ice. Lin scrambled with her only hand to catch hold of Sen. But the girl slipped through the fingers of her only hand leaving her reaching.

"Sen! Sen! Come back, Sen!"

But the girl didn't. She didn't look back as she sprinted down the hill. As Lin stared after her at a loss the urge to give chase vibrated in every fiber of her being. Before Lin could bolt Suzume caught her. Thrashing and kicking and clawing and biting, Lin fought in his grip like a wild animal. Immune to her viciousness the iron bars of the fox's arms locked around her middle lifting her off the ground as she dragged him forward. As fury boiled in her blood, Lin heaved her body sideways to unbalance him. They toppled over into the dirt and landed hard. But the fox didn't yip in surprise as she'd expected and her plan backfired. Before she could wriggle out from under him Suzume pinned her face down with the full weight of his body. Obviously having learned a thing or two from their grappling match in the hallway earlier, try as she might Lin couldn't buck him free. Her only arm was trapped beneath her chest and she couldn't get enough leverage to hurl him off. Snarling through the dusty tangled thicket of her hair, Lin wheezed in a shrill hoarse voice that didn't sound at all familiar.

"Let me go, you stupid fox! Let me go!"

Suzume's terse rebuke whispered against the back of her neck making her shudder.

"You cannot accompany her, Hayashimi!"

It was the truth, which only pissed her off even more! Enraged, Lin fought harder even though it was useless. Again, thundered boomed overhead making her jump and gasp. The terrifying clash and clang of bells rolled up the hill. They crashed over them like a physical blow that made the hairs on her body rise on a thrilling shudder of apprehension. At once scrambling in her husband's grip sick with worry Lin whipped her head around struggling to see the fight below as it remained just beyond the corners of her eyes. But the fox's arms had dropped to lock around her waist pulling her upright and holding her tightly as if afraid of what she might do. Then Little Green Frog called in a panic from the pulling her attention back to the crest of the hill with its collection of Gods and humans.

"Miss Lin! Master Suzume! Something's wrong with Master Haku!"

The kami had set up an orchestra atop the wall of dirt that had once held up the kitchen nook. They had abandoned their instruments and clambered together in a tight knot pointing to the west. At once Lin sought her kits. Usagi had one. Natsumi had the other. They were crying fitfully, frightening by the bells. All the same, a brief flutter of relief surged in her heart knowing they were in good hands. In the midst of the Gods Goshiro stood with Kai firmly fixed in the grip of his misshapen hands. The sharp blades of the old priest's eyes turned across the exposed garden that once inhabited the enclosure between the great hall and the bath wing. Humming with dread Lin followed the pointing fingers of her friends to the thick curtains of steam obscuring the empty basin of the rotenburo. Inside the mists she caught sight of Haku. He was seated in the mud bent over his knees bowing his head. The low black clouds seemed to sink lower still as if hell bent on crushing him.

"Suzume!" Lin choked the fox's name as she yanked him around to look.

Lin ground her teeth as a bitter gust of arctic wind scattered the billowing steam. Haku rocked back onto his heels with a gasp. A thrilling punch of frozen terror went skittering through Lin's body at the sound. Across the distance she clearly saw Haku's expression of stark horror as he stared at his right hand. It spasmed and jerked like it had a mind of its own. But as Haku lurched upright with an agonized shout it began snowing heavily. Aghast, she lost sight of him in the swirling curtains of biting icy white.

" _Suzume!"_ Lin shouted this time as she gave her husband a shake.

Until that moment the fox stood gripping her tighter and tighter as if frozen. He startled then left her in a lurch bolting through the snow for the empty rotenburo. Lin stared after the blurring streak of red and gold then followed only to stumble as something whizzed by overhead. Magic slapped her in the face as she ran blindly right through Onsen's doorway. Skidding in the swiftly piling ice Lin blinked as she found her mask firmly fixed over her face. Mutely she took stock of the laced plates of armor encasing her body. Umi's knife had a new sheath through which the dagger threaded onto her belt. A long length of clinking iron chain looped twice across her chest, counter-balanced by a heavy hunk of iron that rested in the small of her back. The chain clipped to the ring at the base of the cruel curved sickle she gripped in her only hand. Grazing her eyes along the weapon's razor edge Lin chewed on the bile rising in her throat. She tried not to pull a sour face and begrudge the gift. It looked like a big bitey tooth. And so that became its name. Okihane: Big Tooth. Bitterly Lin wished it was Hanoane. But she'd given her teeth to Haku. Hopefully he wouldn't bite her with them.

With a startled gasp Lin back peddled sharply into the obscuring curls of snow as a flute screamed so close the air in her lungs reverberated. Foxfires erupted all around her haloing each individual flake of the falling snow with unnerving acuity as they filtered down from above in thick churning sheets. The disconcerting growl of guttering fire played counterpoint to swelling song as the God lights swirled and eddied, casting eerie twisting shafts of light through the hissing blizzard.

The ice was so thick Lin didn't see them until the last minute. She was forced to dive aside to avoid being trampled. Suzume swept by in a gleaming whirl of flaming red gold that momentarily dyed the snow bloody with reflected color. Then he faded into the white-washed world, blending into the storm as all the color bleached from his body. But the length of his gold flute flashed here and there like gold forks of lightning. And his incandescent eyes danced with flickering fire like the blue blazes that surged at his call. The foxfires sizzled as the melody Suzume summoned turned wild and circuitous. Lin saw why as she lunged away from the silent shadow pursuing her mate.

As if it didn't know the meaning of rest the shade surged through the snow whirling sinuously around Suzume only to leap into the air impossibly high as it flipped and returned with stunning speed. The flute screeched in discord warding off its swooping blow. The melody broke as metal crashed on metal. Obscured by the snowstorm sputtering blue fire erupted so close Lin cringed from the hissing embers rocketing by trailing blackened tails of steam. She skidded further still as something large dropped between her and the fox. An expansive gale shoved aside both snow and fizzling foxfire. As it did Lin was offered an unobstructed view of the menacing shadow. All sound fled the world leaving her ears ringing with shock. In that moment she realized the shadow was Haku.

Everything seemed to slow as Lin was left frozen at what she saw. Naked from the waist up Haku didn't seem to feel the cold at all. Lithe and weightlessly he drifted through the storm without making a sound. His indigo trousers were black with ice that fell away in shards leaving behind strange shattered patterns. A glistening sheen of frost filmed his exposed pallid skin making it sparkle like crystal. As if carved out of the wind and ice reeling around him, his bare feet didn't even seem to touch the ground. Lin blinked as she realized they didn't. Arching gracefully, calm and cool as he touched down onto the tips of his toes in the midst of a perfect circle of whirling snow, he hung there for a moment as if suspended by the shrilling wind. Stunned and awed, Lin's mouth fell open. He was so very beautiful! So delicate and graceful! At least he would've been if not for the red blood seeping from the raw edges of wound beneath his left shoulder. It congealed on the chiseled muscles of his chest in long lines of gleaming ruby. Lin cringed from the sight of the blood. But worse were the spidery lines of poisonous black that spread in the delicate network of veins in his right arm. These grew thicker and darker as they spread from the stain that consumed his right hand. In that hand he held Hanoane.

He was so close now that Lin could see that even his hair had frozen. The wind-swept crop of silver-shot blue-black blew out of his eyes standing up in jagged spikes so finally she could see his face. The blood pumping through her body turned to shards of ice as he slowly turned to look at her. More lines of black threaded their way up his neck and across his face. His eyes were jet black consumed by the spiteful curse chewing its way up his arm trying to eat the rest of him. How it got there Lin had no idea. But the bleak misery etched across the dragon's features was far too familiar. The stupid dragon wore that expression way too much for her to forget it. Stunned and confused deep in her bones she knew this wasn't a Forgotten. Lin had looked into the face of a Forgotten many times. But a true Forgotten didn't feel pain or misery, only the endless agony of wanting. That's why they screamed _mine, mine, mine!_

Tatarigami: that's what the spiders called the thing inside of Kiri.

Tatarigami: a God of resentment.

And now it was inside Kohaku too.


	53. Chapter 53

**LIN**

Lin ground her teeth as misery infected her against her will. She didn't want to admit Kiri could harbor so much hate! She didn't want to believe Kiri could be so weak will and let such a thing kill Amano! But then again, after everything Kiri'd been subjected to, it wasn't a surprise. And Lin hated that so much she wanted to break things and scream like a wild animal, because that the same dark seed had taken root in Haku. Again Lin was disgusted with herself for not being surprised, because the dark seed had been there a long time. From the day he'd arrived at Yubaba's bath house there'd been a shadow in Haku. He bore a hollow aching emptiness filled with a wanting Lin understood too well. Kamaji tried to save Haku from Yubaba the same way he'd tried to save her. But if the promise of food and shelter had been enough to swindle her the promise of power had been more than enough to seduce Haku. It wasn't until they were trapped by their contracts that they realized how stupid they'd been to believe the wanting would stop once they had the things Yubaba promised. It didn't. If anything it got worse. Then Sen had come to them and for the first time Lin saw a light go on in the dragon's eyes she'd never seen before. But it was terrifying how easy it was to confuse wanting with love.

Even after they'd found their way back to Sen wanting got the better of Haku. It'd gotten the better of everyone from Aburaya in the end. Yubaba lost to greed. Kamaji lost to pride. Lin lost more than an arm trying to save what little remained. And Haku was sorry; truly sorry; _too_ sorry. He'd tried _too_ hard to change for the better. He'd nearly killed himself to make amends. He'd managed to bring as many of them home as possible. He'd even found the contracts and finally set them free. That should've been enough! Why wasn't it enough!? Lin didn't understand! Suddenly they were back at the beginning again and it was such a waste. It made her so angry she wanted to hit him! Lin could've hit him if she wanted. He was close enough.

But even as she contemplated dropping her sickle to ball up her fist she blinked as through the slow dancing flakes of snow the cold blue blade of straight wide steel sliced up like a silent flash of lightning. Gritting and grinding her teeth Lin fought through numb shock to regain control of her sluggish body. Like hell she was going to be bitten by her own teeth! Sinking over her heels she anchored herself in the dirt and the rocks beneath and turned to stone. Slow and smooth, crushing the spike of panic the flashing blade inspired beneath the flinty fist of her heart, Lin brought her sickle up just in time. Hanoane's edge grazed across the knuckles off her armor in a spurt of sparks only to catch in the crook of Big-tooth's sharp iron edge. Blowing out the breath she held Lin angled the hook down trapping the blade. Then she punched her fist to the ground. Snow exploded up around her face clotting the oculars of her scarred mask as Lin trapped Hanoane in the dirt below. Then she twisted Big Tooth in the snow flattening the blade so she could stomp and pin Hanoane with her foot. Only then did she let go of the sickle to reach for him.

As the impact rattled up his arm Haku simply forsook the ground and let the force carry him up into the air. He evaded her reaching gauntlet rolling across her back on a frigid gust of wind. As he did he snatched Umi's dagger from her belt even as he continued to spin ghosting away into the snow without touching down. With a furious snarl Lin whipped her torso sideways unwinding the length of chain crossing her body. She dropped to her knees heaving her back to launch the weight at the end. It smashed into the snow inches from his toes as abruptly he righted on another silent gust of wind. Dissolving into shadows without so much as a word he launched up into the swirling whirling white curtains of snow and disappeared. Springing to her feet yanking Big Tooth out of the ground Lin dragged the weight in her wake pacing back and forth beneath the sky like a trapped animal. Shoving her mask up onto her brow with her thumb Lin howled at the sky and kicked at the ice in a rage.

" _Coward! COWARD! Come back and face me!"_

Lin jerked with a gasp of shock as a frozen hand closed over her mouth. She slammed the armored point of her elbow into the body at her back without thinking. His palm remained clamped over her mouth as Suzume collapsed against her in a billowing flowing furl of white robes that blended completely with the snow. His foxfires were gone. His flashing flute muffled away somewhere in his robes. Down he dragged into the obscuring bank of snow hiding her beneath the voluminous folds of his mercurial sleeves as with a rasping wheeze as he bent in two. Flustering apologetically Lin scrambled around to face him. She came up short as the fox's finger remained firmly fixed on her lips. In the close press of silk sleeves his commanding gold eyes willed her to be silent. Lin nodded shakily. She blinked and shivered as he drew back his arms and the obscuring sleeves.

All at once the blizzard pressed down on them in shifting whirling current. Fluffy white flakes caught on the tips of her eyelashes as she drew her mask back onto her face. Lin shied as light gleamed in her lap. She found Hanoane's flat bright blade lying across her knees as Suzume's furtive hands withdrew. Secreting the edge away into her tatter cloak, Lin hurriedly looped the chain round her chest. Wishing she had another hand Lin gripped Big Tooth tightly.

She watched her mate closely as the gold blades of Suzume's eyes tracked the sky. Suddenly the fox's eyes fell following something with such unnerving acuity Lin tensed. A bright blot of red dropped from above to stain the snow beside them. Lin stared at it for what felt like an eternity. Then Suzume drew on his fox face mask in a smooth solemn gesture. Jerking her attention up, she stared in surprise. Lin couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him wear his mask. It frightened her because it meant that things were serious and she yanked hers on as well.

In that same moment the silent shadow fell from above. Lin hurtled sideways as Suzume shoved her so forcefully she tumbled through the snow. Recovering quickly, she cringed as his deafening flute shrieked up into the snow-storm drowning the gale that nearly flattened her back into the drifts. Foxfire erupted in blinding bursts of blue brightness pursuing their master's aggressor as Suzume melted, disappearing into the waves of filtering ice, pursued by the silent shade of indigo. Sparks flew through the curtains of white as somewhere in the blizzard the fox warded strike after darting strike with shrill dissonant blasts of music. But every time Suzume's song caught Haku, tipping and shoving the dragon off balance; every time foxfire dove down to burn and blind him; the dragon bent and glided through the air with swift buoyant ease insubstantial and untouchable as wind. All the while he slashed with the keen narrow edge of Umi's blade.

Even as Haku evaded and redirected he proved he was the subtle pursuer. Fire fled the wind as Suzume's foxfires guttered and retreated. Anchored in the dirt Lin stood staring like a stone gathering snow on her face and shoulders. What could a stone do before wind and fire but wait? And so she waited; waited with a patience that was unhuman forced to watch from afar. If not for the blade in Haku's hands he and Suzume could've been dancing. They orbited each other like stars beneath the eerie blue foxfires as only Gods could. It was beautiful! It was terrible! But she couldn't look away!

Lin ground her teeth as her insides knotted tighter and tighter in apprehension because eventually one would lose. Would it be wind or fire? She wasn't about to wait to find out! Unclipping Okihane from the end of the chain she spirited the hooked blade into her cloak. She was going to need her only hand free coming up soon. Clipping the clasp to her belt, she gripped the weight in her palm tightening her fingers until she felt the metal dent. They were drawing closer, forgetting her entirely as she remained motionless.

Closer; she tried not to shudder as burning grazed across her mask. Closer; wind smashed into her so strongly she almost fell. Until finally she was close enough to smell sweet summer rain through the bitter scent of snow. The smell made her granite heart swell to the point of breaking. If Sen could survive being eaten by a Forgotten Haku could survive a Tatarigami's curse. And there was no way in hell she was going to let it keep him. She'd cut off that cursed arm if she had to. He was her brother! Her family!

 _Mine!_ Lin though bitterly and not without irony. _Mine, mine, mine!_

As Haku ghosted by completely oblivious Lin hurled the weight at the end of the chain with all her might. He jerked in surprise as the chain sailed around his narrow waist, looping him once then twice only to cinch tightly as he resisted. Catapulting back to her Lin caught the orb of steel with deft skill. Sliding her feet through the snow sinking into a wide grounded stance still anchored to the stones beneath she turned her back and pulled on the chain with all her might using her body as a fulcrum. Yanked from the air by the unyielding firmness of the ground beneath her feet Haku smashed into her back with such force his forehead bounced off her shoulder. Lin elbowed him in the gut so fiercely all the wind gushed from his lungs. But even as he staggered, the white bar of his arm sliced through the air to drive the point of Umi's dagger into her stomach.

Lin inhaled sharply as the cunning blade bit through the layers of lacquer metal, and silk in a bright white lancing shock of stunning pain. But she didn't stumble, not with the rock beneath her feet. She caught his right bicep beneath the crook of her shoulder clamping it beneath her elbow holding him like a vice even. The blade remained in her side as she caught his wrist and wrenched it up. It was startlingly easy to bring the brittle bone to the very brink of breaking. But Haku was both and neither: God and mortal with all the best and worst of each. With a raw scream of pain Haku collapsed against her shoulder. Lin trembled at the sound. It was entirely human.

Then blistering wind erupted around them as he slipped like an oiled eel from her grip. Tangled with chains of iron, Haku heaved and tried to rocket up into the sky. Lin didn't let him. Neither did the stone in her heart. They held firmly as she caught him by the chains and smashed him down to the earth. Snow billowed and furled around them under the power of the impact. Still holding the chain, Lin stood over him panting and staring for a long moment ready for him to jump up and come at her again. Fight was still humming in her blood turning the whole world red. But Haku was suddenly so very still where he sprawled face down in the snow.

An errant wind stirred his frozen hair revealing his brow was still twisted with melancholy. Then Lin wavered as the earth beneath her feet tipped because there was blood on the snow. A cold artic wind blew through her very soul. It's been a long time since she'd thought of the family she'd lost in the north. Numbly she realized she couldn't remember their names anymore. She couldn't see their faces either. The same was true of the one's she'd lost at Aburaya. Grimly Lin admitted she couldn't even remember Umi's voice. Throbbing pain surged up her side, but worse was the ache in her heart. Some wounds would never heal. This pain would never go away even if she became a stone. Gripping the haft of Umi's knife Lin took a deep breath ground her teeth and yanked it out with a grunt. Wiping the bloody blade on her pant leg she shoved it back into its sheath.

As suddenly as it had started the blizzard ceased. Vaguely Lin realized they were perched on the edge of the empty rotenburo. Its empty bowl was full of snow save for a circle of murky steaming green water where the spring welled at the back. Now visible as the curtains of white parted, Suzume rushed by, sliding onto his knees to a graceless seat at Haku's side. Lin was surprised by her mate's concern as he ripped off his outer robe, using it to turn the dragon over and swaddle him against the bitter cold. Bright red blood stained the white silk spreading quickly beneath his shoulder. The sickening sight making Lin's knees quake. She dumped down beside Suzume as he peered at Haku closely but took great care never to touch him.

"Did I kill him!? Is he dead!?"

She choked hoarsely as her ears rang and her vision swam. Hurriedly the fox reassured her in a thin hush.

"No, beloved, he lives! But you've undone my work and I fear touching him because of _that!_ "

Lin turned her face away in quaking horror, studying the threads of black beneath his skin.

"What is it!? How did it get into him?!"

Suzume shook his head as his lips pressed into a grim line.

"I do not know and he would not tell me! When first I saw it earlier it was merely a seed of sickness! I did not realize it could grow so quickly!"

Lin flustered in mounting panic.

"Can you get it out of him!?"

Suzume fractured beneath anxiety as his face went blank with dread.

"No, I… I know not how!"

He was a God. He couldn't lie to her. Suddenly weak with worry, Lin sagged forward bowing over her knees. She tipped even further still as her head swam and her side throbbed. Suzume hurried to catch her. As he did the fox went rigid. Horror shredded Suzume's voice as he held up one of his hands. It glistened red.

"You are bleeding, Hayashimi!"

It was such an obvious thing to say he sounded like such a fool. Lin snorted morosely, gritting her teeth against a wry smirk.

"Of course I'm bleeding, you dope! The stupid dragon _stabbed_ me!"

As she sat up clutching her side the fox flustered beside her. He was worse than Natsumi!

"Let me see!" Suzume insisted, "Let me see!"

Pointing stubbornly at Haku, Lin refused.

"It isn't deep! He needs you more!"

"Woman!" Suzume snapped angrily, "Why must you always argue!?"

Turning on him so suddenly the fox yipped in surprise Lin seized him by the front of his robe. Snarling like a wild animal, she gave him a violent shake. Behind her scarred weasel mask Lin thundered back at him ferociously. As she did she lost herself in the red tide still churning inside her chest and she hurled him down into the snow sitting up over him on her knees.

" _Because he's not as strong as me!"_

Blinking rapidly Lin sank back onto her heels momentarily frightened by the sound of her own voice. Fighting the red tide and the boiling bloodlust that followed, she gritted her teeth staring at the fox where she'd thrown him down. Wind-blown and riddled with a network of glancing, crisscrossing cuts and slashes; there was even blood on the snow of his heartbreakingly handsome face. Lin stared at him in desperation. Worlds bleed from her in a despairing hush choked with pain.

"I can't lose him too, Suzume!"

As she crumbled forward he caught her again; caught her face and tipped back her mask with his soft, soft hands; caught the string of vicious curses that spilled from her mouth with his equally soft lips. Suzume caught her very breath in her chest as he kissed her so unexpectedly. And the bloodlust turning her world bloody and bleak suddenly dissolved in a flash of blinding blue foxfire. His gentle hands swept up into her tangled hair smoothing and soothing. All the fight went out of her as the passion he unleashed immolated any resistance. Still claiming her mouth as his the fox bent her backwards and her only arm tightened around his neck as he cradled her in the crook of his elbow. She didn't fight as the flat of his hand pressed over her side where her armor was wet with blood only to ignite. This time fire won over stone as she melted in the power of his flames. Gasping for air, Lin sagged in his grip as finally Suzume broke away. Forgetting everything, blindly she pursued his mouth wanting more. But he thwarted her with words.

"We will not, Hayashimi. By O-Inari-sama's will I so swear it."

Suzume whispered against her lips with such quiet vehemence she shivered. Turning her forehead onto his chest she clung to him trembling and panting even as the pain began to subside beneath his magic. All the while she struggled to hold back the agonized fear seeping through the cracks in her flinty heart. But the fox's fire had melted her defenses and Lin failed. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she clenched her eyes shut in a futile attempt to stop them. Ignoring the fact that she was a grimy mess, tenderly Suzume tipped back her head and kissed them away so very softly, murmuring with melting affection as they boiled into steam beneath his lips.

"Do not cry, beloved. Not yet… Not yet…"

Gasping in a breath and holding it Lin nodded hurriedly. Her arm remained locked around his neck as he helped her stand. The pain was gone and Suzume's hand came away from her side wet and gleaming with her blood. Lin tried not to see it just like she refused to look at the blood on the white robes. Then she remembered the Gods at her back. Whirling, Lin shoved Suzume aside so suddenly he yipped. Lin lurched through the snow almost passing them by. She didn't recognize the hill it was so buried in snow.

"It's Miss Lin!"

Usagi called. The rabbit stood out of the bank waving. Huddled behind the tall Godwoman the humans had hunkered inside the old priests robes. Lin stared at her for a moment then barked back.

"Play _Fuhen_ (1)!"

"W-w-w-what!?"

Yoshi stammered uncertainly as he breeched the white beside Usagi. Lin thundered at them at the top of her lungs.

"Play like your lives depend on it!"

At once the kami were waded in a panic to dig the ice off their instruments. Usagi was the first to answer her call. Taking up the biwa she struck the firm opening chords in a deep dour melody as beside her Yoshi struggled to find his bachi in the snow.

 _One and two and three and. One and two and three and._

The lilting rhythm set Lin's insides shivering. Then Natsumi joined with the sweet twang of the koto followed by the crystal voices of the flower's silver bells. Soon the frogs added the thumping counterpoint of their taiko.

 _Thump_. _Tap, tap._ _Thump_. _Tap, tap._

Lin pushed her mask up blinking as the stinging snow blew into her eyes. Then, taking a deep breath, she began to sing.


	54. Chapter 54

**SEN**

She jolted as thunder boomed directly overhead. But her insides were already humming. Bells rang in her blood silent with warning. And the massive wheel in her head began turning and turning. It loomed over her so large she couldn't see it all. Grinding closer and closer it threatened to smash her into a pulp. All the while the tatarigami continued to laugh with vicious glee. Sen rocked forward onto the balls of her toes as the sound reached across the distance. It ensnared her with terror. But this time it pulled. The sound and the terrible sentiment it inspired towed her across the numbing distance. Once she got to the other side the obdurate iron she had become buckled beneath the powerful dread it inspired. And she slapped her hands over her ears not wanting to hear anymore.

" _Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"_

Even as she screamed shrieking bells obliterated the tatarigami's terrible glee. Megumi, Jae, and Kenka danced through the thickening curtains of snow in winking flashes of gold, silver, and blazes of color at odds with the whitening world. Naked and pale as ash Urami all but dissolved into the snow. But even as Sen struggled upright to add her bells to their song the hissing of the young priest's onusa slammed her back down to her hands and knees. Keiichi shouted through the blizzard with hoarse vehemence as he marshalled through obvious terror.

"Give back my sister, demon!"

Sen thrashed and gasped in the frozen mud and cutting grass as the hissing slithering sound of the paper dragged her back and forth. She fought to force herself upright against the quelling hand of the kannushi's wand but the weight of the tatarigami's bitter mocking laugh sent her back to her knees. Then the young priest began chanting eerie Shinto norito even as his voice and the whipping crack of paper were swallowed in the equally furious syncopated rhythm of unyielding bell song. Sen couldn't see anything through the thick coating drifts of snow. But she could hear. Sonorously Shurui's black iron carillons clanged and tolled as Megumi took the lead with astonishing confidence. The light high voices of the red, gold, and silver fans wove around her darting in and out as Jae and Kenka played a quickening accompaniment that grew bolder with every second. Even as she was forced to remain on the sidelines, helplessly crushed into the weeds quickly blanketed in snow Sen realized through the miring haze of panic that the humans were holding their own.

Just as suddenly as the snow began it petered out. Overwhelmed by the vast world that suddenly yawned beyond the claustrophobic curtains of fluffy white ice Sen blinked and cringed as a blade of light pierced the dark clouds if only for a second. Momentarily blinded one of the dancers faltered. They were only human. Sen couldn't see who. It didn't matter. The perfect harmony of their bell song broke with a dissonant tone. Gold and silver flashed at the bottom of the hill on the bank beside the frozen pond, but not the wink of Cinna's fans. Jae flew from his feet as Urami bent and slipped beneath the weakened melody only to shoulder him onto his back from across the distance. Another jangling clamor obliterated the power of the commanding percussion as he crashed down hard as he knocked backwards against Keiichi. They lost the grip on their fans and wand as they sprawled limp and stunned.

Here the boney fingers of Urami's extended hands closed as she grabbed hold of the peeling chimes he had produced and pulled hand over hand. Jae yelped as he skidded through the banks of snow toward the demon leaving Keiichi reaching after him uselessly. Scrambling ahead of him, Megumi and Kenka crisscrossed slicing and shredding the invisible lines that ensnared their friend. But even as he lurched to a stop in a deep rut Urami caught the remaining bells. They were two against three now, no longer evenly matched. Meg and Kenka crashed into each other with a sickening thud as the tatarigami jerked its clenched crossing hands down only to fling them apart.

Fans flew as they caught air like dandelion fluff ripped up in a brisk wind. Kenka disappeared into a thick drift of snow. Only his still splayed feet and the gleaming hem of his silver green hakama emerged. Megumi arched away about over the pond and smashed through the thin membrane of ice glazing the surface. Her bright peacock plumage was swallowed completely by the murky water. Before Meg could surface the film thickened to an impenetrable sheet of ice as Urami followed. The wretched naked thing plodded down the steep bank and slipping and quaking as the chilling touch of her bare feet froze the water.

She crouched peering blankly as beneath her bare toes Megumi hammered her hands on the underside of the ice. Panic surged in Sen as the ballerina remained little more than a pastel flash of colors in the murk beneath the frosted pane of the frozen water. Only Keiichi was left to slash his wand and chant in hoarse panic. The young priest scrambled down the bank after the tatarigami whippings his arms back and forth. The compelling voice of the wand slammed her to the ground. Urami went as well, collapsing on its knees gasping but remaining firmly rooted on the ice. Again it was laughing that horrible hissing rasp even as it flinched and quailed.

" **You'll have t'kill us, Kei... Kill us both before we kill her an' grandad an' Kai an' Nani…"**

Prayers failed the young priest at the lengthening list of names and he let loose a sobbing cry of agonized misery. Then he swung the onusa savagely. Sen was shocked as Urami knocked sideways and landed with a terrible crack that sent fractures spidered across the ice. His black lacquered hat knocked from his head as again Keiichi struck the demon with another vicious swing of rustling sound. It sent the emaciated thing skidding across the ice only to smash against the ice hardened shore of the bank where it's licking black flame extinguished and it lay still. Then across the distance muted glancing blows found Sen too. She knocked sideways landing with an astonishing burst of pain only to get hauled through the cutting blades of snowy grass by the invisible hands of the commanding force.

But even as Sen sprawled she reeled upright fighting to see through the weeds as the surface of the ice shattered. Megumi heaved out of the frozen murk gasping and sobbing as she collapsed over the brittle edge. Throwing her eyes back to Keiichi Sen stared stupidly as the priest stood over Urami's prone form shaking violently as he lifted his wand in both hands high as if making ready to bludgeon the tatarigami to death. Sen's hammering heart surged into her throat pulling her up onto her knees as the onusa remained poised high trembling as the priest hesitated. And she wanted to scream. She wanted to shriek and yell at him to finish what she couldn't; because by some terrible twist of Fate Keiichi was immune to the retribution Urami extracted from his papered wand. He had done what even Gods couldn't. But then his face twisted with torment so complete it was absolute. And Sen shook with horror that reached her all the way across the void, because he looked so much like Kiri in that moment the resemblance was astonishing.

Grim resolution hardened Keiichi as he lowered his wand to stand over Urami in silence. Struggling from his outer robe he carefully laid it over the tatarigami before inching back warily. At her feet Keiichi took up a silent vigil waiting for what she didn't know. All this Sen watched in cold uncomprehending disorientation. The breath rushed out of her in curls of smoke as she sagged down onto her knees suddenly sick with the knowledge that if it had been her who stood in Keiichi's place Urami would be dead. So would Kiri. She wouldn't even have hesitated. She wasn't even sure she'd be sorry. Horror left her shaking as she couched on her knees in the tall grass. Tears evaporated from her cheeks as she choked on a miserable sob and the smell of blood and fire. Oh, Gods! What was she becoming?

"Oh, fuck! _Meg!_ "

Sen jumped as Jae swore explosively. Red and green stirred in the white snow as the humans slipped and scrambled out onto the ice to catch hold of Megumi and haul her up onto the snowy shore. The ballerina was quaking so viciously Sen could hear her teeth chattering all the way across the distance. Spiriting away her suzu, suddenly sickened by its touch, Sen threw herself upright and staggered down the hill knowing Megumi would most likely die from exposure if she didn't do something. Jae and Kenka shied from her with gasps as she threw open her arms already reaching.

"Give her to me."

Growling behind his lion-dog mask Jae pushed it up on his brow revealing a face to match as he refused with his usual curses. He clutched Megumi close in a possessive and protective posture that made it clear he wasn't letting go for anyone. In his arms Megumi pressed her face into the hard plates of his chest dragging in shuddering breath after breath making them both rattle and clatter as she shivered convulsively. Her peacock visage perched on her brow revealing her lips were as blue as her frozen armor. Kenka's face was just as pale as his willow mask when he emerged from beneath. Clutching one of Jae's pauldrons as if ready to yank his friend to his feet, the human's blank gaze never left Keiichi or the thing at his feet. Looking them over Sen was distantly relieved that they were mostly unharmed. Hunkering back on her heels Sen unlatching the grate in her heart she let her fire free. The humans flinched from her as curls of smoke drifted from her lips. Steam issued from her shoulder and the ground beneath her body as she exuded tremendous heat making the snow and ice melt.

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ!"

Jae swore as he hurried jostled Megumi closer. She frowned sourly as he did. Already the ice on their armor was melting and the humans clambered closer. Never taking his hand from his friend's shoulder, Kenka timidly extended the other the way human's reached for a fire. As his fingers hovered just shy of touching awe lit up his sweet face as he stared at her openly.

"You're so warm."

Sen gritted her teeth as Kenka's words bounced off the iron surface of her heart. If only it was true. Right now she felt so very, very cold. Sen wasn't sure why but she cracked a joke. Maybe to prove she wasn't entirely gone.

"Saves a ton on the heating bills."

Jae snorted in amusement and his straight white teeth flashed as he smirked.

"No shit."

Sen took in Megumi's sigh in unsmiling satisfaction as the woman ceased to rattle. Some color returned to her blue lips as the bright mirrors of the ballerina's eyes watched her cautiously from their corners. All the while Jae rubbed her hands, until with another sour frown, Megumi tried to take them back. Jae wouldn't let her; holding them out to warm them against Sen's fire. Megumi sighed in exasperation, but rather than shove him away, Megumi leaned her head against Jae's plates sagging in exhausted relief. He startled, glancing down at her sharply only to go absolute red faced. Without a word, he continued his ministrations with single minded purpose.

Sen caught the thin smile that tugged the grim line of Kenka's mouth as he spared his eyes from the tatarigami for his friends. But then the willow-garbed human lurched to his feet hauling on Jae's shoulder. As he and Megumi scrambled upright Sen shot to her feet on clambering in front of them with her suzu furling in hand. There she cringed from the whisper of Keiichi's onusa as he brandished it in warning, holding his ground before the huddled figure at his feet. The reeds turned brittle and died as Urami sat up staring blankly at the robe draped over her legs as if she didn't know what it was. Contempt etched her wan features as the hungry black flame rekindled on her brow licking her burned and blistered scalp. Seared by its heat, eroded into ash. As cinders plumed the tatarigami rasped wearily scolding the terrified priest.

" **You should have killed us when you had the chance, Keii-kun."**

Showing the same flash of iron from earlier, he raised the quaking onusa and spat a command.

"I say again, demon! Give back my sister!"

Urami snorted as Kiri might have snorted only to lift her jet black eyee. All the warmth and light in the world seemed to flee in the face of her dour reply as Keiichi bleached of all color the same way Suzume did.

" **What makes you think there's anything left to give back?"**

The tatarigami's truths might as well have punched her in the face. Sen understood in a way no one could. Kiri'd given herself up to Urami the same way she'd given Chihiro to the fire. Sen wavered beneath the crushing hand of despair as she realized Keiichi's compassion was wasted; all of this was wasted; because there was nothing left to save. Then, in the distance, the music began. The lilting twang of Natsumi's biwa ran through her like an electric shock. Sen jolted bolt upright as drums and cymbals joined the quickening melody. Then Lin's voice called above it all. The sound was high and clear like a flash of sunlight in the dark. Distantly her friend sang of atoning for someone else's sins and mistakes. But it was in the snow, not the rain the song spoke of, that something changed.

Lifting her suzu she set the air clamoring with bells and turned her back on Urami, pacing in time along the snowy path toward the hill were her home had been slowly swinging the haft in time with the Godsong. One-two- _ring!_ One-two- _cring!_ As the startled humans looked on in confusion from the frozen shore Urami shook violently at the call of her bells. Lurching upright, the tatarigami shuffled forward mirroring her steps. One-two-three. One-two-three. Even as Sen's exposed back crawled with apprehension, nothing came. Retribution could not return to her times three as she did not reach with violence. Even as the music ended she kept unwavering time.

"What're you doing?"

Muddied, beaten, and short of breath, Keiichi scrambled up beside her catching his tipping eboshi hat. Pale as the drifts, and trembling from more than cold, the younger priest cast harried glances over his shoulder at what followed.

"Dancing."

Her curt reply left him casting about for more tremulous words.

"But why?!"

She didn't answer and instead kept her gaze firmly fixed on the path ahead. She didn't want Keiichi to know what she intended. Sen learned this trick from Okesa. She had every intention of dancing this God to death.

" **Tricky, tricky, Sen."**

As Urami seethed at her back Goshiro appeared in the path ahead so suddenly Sen gave a start. She almost lost her rhythm as the old man materialized out of thin air with his hands pressed together in front of his heart looped with a long string of prayer beads. She veered to go around only to have him glide sideways to block her path once more.

"Out of the way, priest!"

Sober and serene, he remained firmly fixed in her way. She couldn't break rhythm to knock him aside with bells. What was he thinking!? Before she could call for Lin to get the crazy old man, Urami hissed in contempt from behind her so close an icy chill of warning skittered between her shoulders.

" **I begrudge you too, grandad. Neither you nor Keiichi can reach me now."**

Keiichi hurriedly to Goshiro's side, but much to her dismay, not to usher the old man away. Instead he held his wand high wearing an expression of abject terror as he glanced between the demon at her back and his family. Quietly, calmly, as if nothing at all was wrong, the elder priest bowed with unhurried care and addressed Urami.

"There is one here who would reach you, O-tatarigami-sama."

Sen uttered a horrified snarl as Kai crept out from behind Goshiro's massive brocade sleeves. Red nosed and shivering visibly as his worn orange marshmallow coat offered little protection, the blank-faced little boy looked right at the tatarigami. Before she could start shouting for someone with sense to get these stupid humans out of her way before they got Kai killed, Sen's insides thrilled in dread as Urami jerked hard in her shadow bringing her to a lurching stop. Redoubling her efforts, she ground her teeth in fury and beginning to steam with effort heaving forward with every swing of her suzu. Her heels dug into the slippery mud, but she didn't get anywhere as Kai continued to search retribution's face only to inch forward. A gleam rounded his wide eyes as a familiar expression flitted through his pinched features.

"K-Kiri?"

Urami was just as shocked to see hope as Sen was. Behind her it pronounced the words against its will, biting off each and every one as it continued to drag her backwards.

" **You… I… I…?"**

Stunned by its confusion, Sen almost lost her rhythm. She jerked instinctively as, still clinging to a handful of the older priest's sleeve, Kai held out his other hand without hesitation. But not for her.

"It's okay, Kiri. You can still be my mom even though dad's gone. I'd really like that."

It was the truth. She was God enough to know that much. Wheeling round, Sen struggled to keep her ground circling her suzu in a desperate holding pattern. Now facing retribution, her bells chimed anxiously as she watched not at all sure what to make of its sudden resistance. All the while the black flame perched on its brow flickered and fluttered betraying its turmoil.

"It's okay if your friend needs to come too."

Sen twitched again, watching from the corners of her eyes as one of Goshiro's gnarled hands darted out to clasp the boy's shoulder. His voice was as sharp as his hazy pale eyes.

"What do you see, Kai?"

No longer scared, the kid was turning his face to the side peering at the tatarigami sideways.

"There's a bird under all the black stuff. His feathers are on fire."

Here Kai startled and fled behind the elder priest as Urami screeched furiously.

" **Do not speak of him!"**

Sen pitched and her rhythm finally broke as it stalked forward leave ice snapping and crackling beneath its bare feet. Before it could reach her Keiichi warded the demon off with a sideways swipe of his wand. Down it crashed only to heave back up returning the persuasion threefold, which Sen caught full in the face. The stinging impact left her ringing as down into the wet snow she smashed. But even as she fell, the younger priest remained standing. Ice snapped beneath her back and she cringed inward as Keiichi strode over her in a sweep of pleated skirts bringing Urami up short with the threat of the whispering onusa.

"O-tatarigami-sama, there is another with you. Perhaps he can reach you?"

As the elder priest doggedly pursued what Kai revealed, the black flame on its brow guttered leaving a fresh smear of soot in its wake. Even as it shook unsteadily, Urami sneered.

" **He's nothing, kannushi!"**

Baring its teeth, the tatarigami collected itself and advanced with reaching hands more claws than fingers only to come up short as Goshiro stepped behind Kai. Urami froze in place as he did, staring at Kai uncomprehending until, with an anguished cry, the younger priest strode forward swinging the paper fletched wand like a baseball bat. Sen twitched and quailed in sympathetic horror where she was burning a muddle hole through the ice. Back Keiichi fought the demon, knocking it from side to side withering the adjacent paddies as it foundered insensibly.

 _"Don't hurt her!"_

As Kai screeched and scrambled after Keiichi Sen managed to catch the kid before he could get far. Struggling to keep a hold on him, Sen watched Goshiro follow in the young priest's wake doggedly pursuing what the God betrayed.

"Name him, O-tatarigami-sama!"

Panting with exertion, Keiichi paused with the onusa held poised to strike as Urami began to retreat clasping hands over its ears.

" _ **Do not speak of him! Do not speak of him!"**_

Wearily grasping her suzu in one hand as she caught Kai around the middle with the other, Sen forced herself up out of the snow in a plume of steam and a cascade of bells that matched the ringing premonition humming in her blood. Weaving there on her feet with the sobbing kid kicking her shins, she barked truth in the elder priest's wake.

"His name's Garuda!"

The name flew from her like an arrow from a bow to strike Urami across the distance like a volley of bells. It reeled with an ear-splitting shriek that was far from human. The black flame on its brow blew out only to rekindle in a sizzling snap of viridian green. As it did the tatarigami crashed down onto its knees frantically clawing at its neck. More eerie fire flared between its fingers as a blazing band erupted into being encircling its neck. As that green blaze flashed, for a moment Sen wasn't there. Instead she was hurtled back to the shattered bathroom at the top floor of Aburaya watching in stony silence as Shurui shackled Kiri with the oni collar. Then she was back, weaving unsteadily as the fragrant scent of incense blew across the dead hillside on the heels of a hot wind at odds with the freshly fallen snow. As if conjured by the heat, those long lines of strange symbols rose to the surface of Urami's skin glowing like embers as it thrashed in the steaming snow.

Sen cringed as it threw back its face to scream again, but this time an eagle's screech. It cracked the air eliciting a roll of thunder from the low dour clouds. In that moment, Kiri was gone. In her place, Garuda tilted forward onto his knees still grimacing as if in great pain. As before, his eyes belonged to a bird of prey, slitted vertically and yellow like the mirrored gold loops threaded through his stretched earlobes. More gold traced the edges of his almond shaped eyes and the bow of his generous lips. It painted his entire brow, running down the hawk-like cut of his chiseled nose. Once more the exquisitely balance of both feminine and masculine beauty became lost in his expression of anguish. His bangles rang like bells leaving her shivering as he lowered his hands to his knees. His nails curved into razor sharp claws that drew at his knees as his eyes sharpened with disquiet; because beneath him, as if pinned in place by his presence, was a thicket of black shadow Sen found horrifyingly familiar. Dwindled small, and smoldering slightly, these writhed and clawed at the ground but got nowhere.

"Where's Kiri!?"

Sen could only stare as Garuda rocked back onto his heels regarding Keiichi askance with an entirely Godish expression of mystification. He blinked and cocked his head as a bird might when the young priest brandished his onusa. Keiichi was all but spent and trembling visibly. He startled as Goshiro placed a hand on his elbow and all but deflated at his grandfather's side as Garuda regarded the elder monk curiously. With all the stunning grace only a God could offer, Garuda pressed a hand to his bare chest almost demurely.

"She is here."

His lyrical voice was little more than a lilting whisper. Garuda flinched as Goshiro solemnly lifted one of his gnarled hands, pulling the fingers back with great effort until one crooked digit was left to point. With this he commanded in a voice that cracked like a whip.

"Return my grand-daughter, God-not-of-this-land."

Garuda blinked and his pupils tightened as the mirrored flash of his inhuman eyes focused entirely on the old priest. Here Garuda grew grim as if not entirely sure it was possible.

"In time."

That wasn't what Goshiro wanted to hear. A tremor went through his outstretched hand as the old priest drew himself up seeming to grow ten times taller and getting all kinds of scary as he did. Beside him Keiichi rallied, heaving the bristling onusa up onto his shoulder as if it weighed hundreds of pounds. Garuda hissed and cringed from the shushing rustle of the paper, leaning back and lifting a hand in front of his face. But he didn't get up and fly away like he had before. Sen realized why all in a horrifying flash like she'd looked into that stupid mirror. Leaving Kai in a lurch, she interjected herself between the priests and the God throwing out the suzu in warning.

"Stop!"

Keiichi gaped as the hard edge of Goshiro's sharp eyes turned carved into her instead.

"Do not interfere."

Immune to his censure, and the eerily heavy pressure of his pointing finger, Sen carefully lowered her humming suzu toward the ground.

"Look familiar?"

Goshiro's calm faltered ever so slightly as he glanced at the crawling shadows clawing at her heels. It took every ounce of her self-control not to flinch each time they grazed her skin sending fizzled of searing ice up her spine. She pronounced the next knowing it was truth. The God in her could offer that much.

"He's the only thing keeping _that_ in check right now. Do you really want to compromise what little advantage we've gained?"

Keiichi couldn't look long. The younger priest shrank from the stain of black with an open look of horror that was slowly getting the better of him. His grandfather, however, remained unmoved as if he had seen all this before.

"Leave them with me."

The razor's edge of his gaze returned full force. Sen didn't so much as budge beneath it.

"And if we refuse?"

She twitched as ice crunched at her back. From the peripheries of her vision she caught a flash of red, blue, and green. A more than worried pinch gathered between Keiichi's brows as he slid the wand from his shoulder, because the onusa only worked on Gods. Goshiro didn't look worried at all. She really didn't want to find out why. Before this could go any further she slid her spare hand into her pocket and closed her fingers around the cold square of ceramic. At the same time, she tossed her suzu to the side lifting it slowly overhead. Bells sang as the kitchen back door sprouted from the snowy hillside complete with slider. She drew the dial round with a twist of her wrist and flicked it open. On the other side was the dim interior of the Sengen Jinja's living quarters. Keiichi tore in two as his stricken gaze cast back and forth between her, the door, and the God at her back. Still, he stayed beside his grandfather as the elder priest studied her with a cryptic expression bordering on dangerous. Where was the smiling old man who'd lost his mind? Suddenly she doubted that man ever existed.

"Go home."

This time it wasn't a command, but instead a plea; because there was nothing more the priests could do. Goshiro knew this much. His wizened face aged further with barely withheld anguish as he lowered his hand.

"Kai?"

As if only now remembering the kid, Keiichi turned all in a panic only to find his nephew knotted up under Lin's only arm. Sen startled at her friend's abrupt appearance. Like the rest of them, Lin was dressed for a fight and beat to hell because of it. Shit, was that blood? Even as far away as she was, Sen faltered at the sight of the red soaking through her friend's side. Lin didn't seem to be bothered by it. Instead she clutched the kid close glaring daggers at Keiichi through the burned oculars of her weasel mask, retreating a step and ready to bolt. Sen intervened before she could, pointing her suzu before the younger priest could heft up the onusa.

"Put him down."

Her friend snarled ferociously from behind her mask, making her claim clear.

"He's one of ours, Sen!"

Sen could only stare. Chihiro would have begged and sobbed and wheedled and apologized; because here was the price to be paid. Sen, however, knew she couldn't keep them both. She didn't so much as hesitate in the choosing.

"Yes. But he can't stay."

Lin jerked as if she'd slapped her. Her mouth fell open in shock at her flat refusal. Callously, Sen took advantage of that moment. It was the only way she'd be able to avert another fight that would end death. Bells rang cold and hard as she dipped and whirled so swiftly Lin set down Kai and the boy lurched forward with wooden steps before either of them realized they had done so against their will. Keiichi darted in to scoop up the stunned boy only to disappear through the door just as Lin snarled in rage and gave chase.

"No!"

Lin skidded to a halt in the snow quaking with outrage as bells sang again to ensnare her. Sen darted sideways to bar Lin's path standing firm as Goshiro slowly hobbled after his grandson. His voice was thick with bitterness as he muttered in passing.

"This is not finished, o-kami-sama."

No. It wasn't. But she had sense enough to keep her mouth shut. As the slider snicked shut Sen whirled again, commanding the door to sink back into the snow in a clash of bell song and for good reason. Lin sprinted right for it only to slide to a halt once more as it disappeared into the dead grass. Lin stalked in a circle around the place it disappeared clenching and unclenching her only fist like she wanted to hit something; probably her. Sen would've let her if Suzume hadn't come striding down the hill between them.

" _Enough!"_

Lin flinched from his bark only to gasp and press close, because the fox was carrying something wrapped up in his white robe. Only as Suzume sank to his knees and carefully shifted his burden did Sen see the blood stains. She stood stock still and charted the blot of black spreading from the curse on Kohaku's hand. Still, Sen started feeling absolutely nothing. She didn't so much as flinch as Garuda spoke up at her back as only a God could; because God's couldn't lie.

"Permit me. Else he will die."

A tremor went through her knees as that slowly sank in. Strange, after all she'd seen in Sengen's mirror, that they would bring her the briefest flash of relief. But that was problem with mirrors: they showed the world backwards and upside down.

In the end, Kohaku didn't die by Garuda's hands.

Because of them, he lived.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 _Fuhen_ (普遍), which translates in many ways, is a song by the Japanese group Rin'. It's the ending theme for the _Samurai 7_ anime. I favor the translation _ubiquity_. The song is about the universality of suffering, but also the importance of not giving up in the face of that suffering, because anyone can change for the better if they let go of what's holding them to the past.

* * *

 **End Book 3: Wheel of Yamanote**

 **To be continued in Book 4: Nakasendō**


End file.
